Ideal Countenance
by Girl-chama
Summary: Unrequited love for your husband is the worst kind of tragedy.  Isn't it?  After years of pining for him, Sasuke gives Sakura what she thinks she's always wanted.  Then the blinders come off. SasuSaku, some NaruSaku.  Rated for later chapters.
1. The

The windows were spotless, as were there sills. The garden had been trimmed and weeded. They were even caught up on laundry, probably the single hardest task to stay ahead of. But the laundry room was empty and the clean laundry had actually made its way back to its furniture, instead of sitting in a pile on the floor.

Sasuke had been gone for two weeks on an A-rank and she had heard nothing from him or his team. It was not unusual for a team to go dark during more complicated missions, but she was feeling listless as she waited for the days to pass. He could take of himself, she knew. No one could defy death like her husband. Mostly, she was just bored.

Rounds at the hospital were steady, with most of her patients having long-term needs. She saw them every day, saw the few children who had caught colds and assured their nervous parents that no, they were not about to drop dead from a cough.

She had even had time to spend with Ino, catching up on life and tidbits of gossip. Why yes, she had heard that Akamaru was to be congratulated on his first litter. No, she did not know Shikamaru had again refused to take a genin team, but neither was she surprised. When she had picked up a broom and begun to sweep the Yamanaka flower shop, Ino had promptly taken the appliance, shoved her to the steps and told her to find a hobby.

Years had passed since she had taken orders from Ino, though, which was how she found herself at home in the late afternoon making a simple dinner of rice balls and oden. The plethora of fish were already cooking, stewing in dashi as she wrapped her first handful of rice around a cherry tomato.

She sensed him before she heard him. Her hands continued to mold rice and seaweed. Smiling, she glanced over her shoulder and spoke kindly, "Welcome back." He was already much closer than she anticipated, fully geared with the black turtleneck and white vest. He stepped in, smelling of earth and copper and _Sasuke, _as one arm snaked past her waist. She grinned, readying to return the embrace, but his reach stopped short. He grabbed the first, the only, completed rice ball and stepped back.

Twisting, she caught his arm before he cleared her personal space. A quick step to her toes, and she sealed the distance between them. His lips were warm and chapped, tolerant. Her desire died before it could be kindled. Maybe he saw the disappointment in her eyes, or maybe the kiss woke something in him. He leaned forward and returned it with emotion she was more familiar with. By the time he leaned away, she was smiling again.

"I missed you," she whispered against his cheek, content to stay there for a while.

"Mm," he answered, his arms comfortable around her shoulders.

"Did you miss me?" she asked playfully, her momentary hurt forgotten.

"You know I did," he answered quietly, as if someone might be walking past the unopened window and hear them. Sakura smiled, content again, and turned back to her task.

Quietly he spoke, "Thank you," and she nodded. His presence was already fading from the kitchen. Two _weeks_ he had been gone.

"If you want," she called while turning back to the other rice balls, "go ahead and clean up while dinner finishes cooking." A moment later her response came as water ran through the pipes, shower water beating against the tiles.

Dinner was quiet, quieter than she had hoped or even expected. The wet sound of oden and chewing peppered the silence until she asked, "How did everything go?"

"We finished. There were no casualties," he answered between bites. She served another piece of fried tofu into his bowl, masking daikon beneath it. He ate the tofu and hesitated at the radish.

"Did everything go according to your standards?" she teased, trying to dig a little deeper, to maybe pull some substance into the conversation.

"There were no casualties," he said again, and she wondered if that was supposed to pass for a new answer. The man who had kissed her not even an hour ago had vanished again. Sighing, she finished the rest of her rice and began to clear the table. Sasuke did not complain as she cleared away his not-quite-empty bowl. When she returned for her second set of dish clearing, he had excused himself.

After she finished cleaning dinner away, she found him in bed, already tucked beneath the slate-blue sheets and comforter. His eyes were closed. She stared at him for a moment, wondering how badly the mission had really gone. Why else would he be so tired? He had gone on missions like this before without the same kind of fatigue. Why wouldn't he just open up to her?

She crawled into bed, aware of the dark eyes that opened as she pulled the sheets back up to her shoulders. He sighed gently as her fingers danced over his lips, rolling a small round between them.

"Open up," she whispered gently, and he complied, taking the small tomato between his teeth. Sakura smiled as he chewed, brushing her arm back down to his chest, fingers playing idle melodies.

Her eyes fell to the strap of muscle in his neck, flexing and relaxing as he worked the tomato into something to swallow. She leaned forward and placed two slow kisses against his neck, first against the muscle and then higher at his pulse point. Her lips lingered, tongue darting over the skin and artery. He tasted like soap, smelled like tomatoes. The fingers on his chest grazed the skin playfully.

"Sakura," he sighed. It was the first time he had spoken her name since he had returned, and she smiled toothily, nipping at his neck. His hand met hers, fingers intertwining to guide her. Then they were quickly weighed down, anchored to his chest. He turned his head away from her before, quickly looking back down at the confusion on her face. "I am very, _very_ tired," he explained. He brought their hands to his mouth, giving the back of her palm a small peck, then pulled the limbs back under the covers, where they settled between their two bodies.

Sakura sighed and disengaged her fingers, rolling away from her husband slowly. A minute later she cleared her throat quietly.

"You know," she said calmly, "a normal man who hadn't had sex for two weeks, when finding a beautiful woman throwing herself at him, would probably make more of an effort." He said nothing, and she rolled her eyes at his passive-aggressive bullshit. This was ridiculous. Two weeks!

Soft, lulled breathing caressed her ears, and she frowned, glancing over her shoulder. His eyes were closed, his mouth slightly open. Had he fallen asleep? In the middle of her words? Or worse, was he _pretending_?

Forcing her clenched jaw to relax, she turned back to her side and pushed the thoughts away. Now _she_ was being ridiculous. He was tired, that was all. He had said so himself. Besides, the thought of him pretending just for the sake of avoiding her was too painful to consider.

"I love you," she whispered to the darkness. "Sometimes I feel like my body is going to explode and shoot all the way to the stars just on the power of what I feel for you. I would- _could_ move mountains for you… I believe you love me too… but sometimes I wish you would _show_ it." Her volume had risen to almost normal volume as she finished, consumed in her declaration.

"Sakura," Sasuke muttered sleepily. "Please be quiet. 'M tryin' to slee…"

She tensed… then did as he asked

* * *

><p>Dun dun dun.<p>

Just a prologue, a whetting, if you will. More notes in my bio.


	2. Greatest

So soon an update! Why yes, did you not read the notes in my bio?

* * *

><p>The next morning she was out of bed before Sasuke woke. Breakfast was a quiet, this time by choice. While she dressed in the bedroom in silence, Sasuke rolled over to her spot and then stilled. She was out of the house and on her way to her mentor's office when the sun was just cresting over the horizon.<p>

His words were still smarting. Even if he had been half-sleep- even if he had said the words IN his sleep, which she found extremely unlikely having slept at least in his general vicinity for the better part of a decade, not to mention the years they had been married, the tone and disregard for her feelings was inexcusable. She had been pouring her heart out! He _must_ have heard her.

"Of course he heard," Inner Sakura answered snidely. "That's why he told you to shut it!"

"You're _supposed_ to be on _my_ side," she returned waspishly. Inner Sakura said nothing else.

Tsunade was surprisingly lucid when Sakura entered her office. She had seen the woman pull all-nighters, but those had been during the War or when waiting for highly-ranked mission's teams to return. To see her up with the dawn was both startling and reassuring.

"I'd like to request a mission," she said after pleasantries had been exchanged. Tsunade frowned, not looking at her.

"You mean you'd like to put in an application for a mission to be perused by the Hokage of Leaf Village at a later time?" she suggested as she reached for a half-imbibed mug of yesterday's tea. Izumo and Kotetsu were letting down in their cleaning duties. Warm-honey eyes regarded her over the cup intently. They were both out of their time zones for this, but Sakura could not wait.

"Tsunade-sama, I- need to get away from the hospital for a few days," she lied.

"Ah," her mentor intoned, finishing the cold tea and lowering the mug. She began to straighten her desk and asked casually, "Problems on the home front?"

"Wha…?" Sakura asked eloquently, 'ha-ing' in the silence to hide her nervousness.

"You've never asked to be away from the hospital. Not every year during flu season, not when we thought we had the outbreak of damp lung from Rain." The Hokage regarded her, midway through stacking a brief of files, piercing her with a knowing glance.

Sakura flushed and still tried to deny it, "There's a first time for everything."

The older woman said nothing else as she finished stacking the papers. Her hands turned to her desk, pausing on its top for a moment. Sakura watched her, tried not to play with the pockets of her flak jacket, and waited.

Tsunade finally reached for a lower drawer on her desk and spoke as the Hokage, "It just so happens that I have a C-rank that needs finalizing."

"C-Rank?" Sakura asked her mentor, and not the leader of the Village. "But-"

"_C-Rank_," the blond woman spoke again, once more eyeing her critically. "Your head is not in the game for anything higher." The argument was over before it had begun. Sakura could take it or leave it. She forced down the pout that had been forming on her lips and rolled her shoulders.

That was answer enough. Tsunade continued. "I need you to deliver something to Sand. To the Kazekage."

Sakura nearly sagged with relief, but tensed again before her leader could see the signs. Three days to Suna and three days back. A week would be enough time for Sasuke to learn to long for her properly, the way she did for him. "It's a present so be extra careful," the blond woman added, and Sakura took a careful look at the oak-lacquered box before her.

It was a pretty thing, wood from the giant live oaks in Konoha. No other tree ringed quite the same way. At the very least, Gaara would have nothing like it originating in Sand. Its contents were a mystery and meant to remain such, she realized, as the Hokage wrapped the box herself with an equally pretty satin cloth.

"Keep your head in the game, Sakura," Tsunade warned her, pushing the finished box to the edge of her desk.

Sakura took one more look at it, then grabbed it as she looked at her mentor.

"I'll see you in a week," were her parting words.

Outside, she allowed herself to look at the silken wrapping. There were no seals, nothing to keep an outsider from opening it. It felt solid, but light, as if nothing were inside it at all. "A C-rank mission? For a box? There's got to be more to this than a gift," she thought. The box was tucked under her arm and she quickly returned home.

Sakura had nearly finished packing when Sasuke pulled himself from bed. She had been home from the Tower for nearly an hour, and he was just waking. He really _had_ been exhausted last night, she admitted to herself.

"Where are you going?" he asked as he stepped into the kitchen. His entrance mimicked his return home, silent and imminent. Last night, however, there had been certain expectations and hopes. This morning they were of a completely different sort. Silently, she finished tucking two knives into the dark green pouch positioned at her hip before finally regarding him.

She supposed the answer to his question was obvious given her state of dress and the bag in front of her, yet she answered anyway, "I have a mission."

He frowned, stepping closer as he answered, "You haven't had anything scheduled." She nodded, tamping down an urge to smile. So he had been paying attention, had he?

Well, thank heaven for small favors.

"I asked for one," she admitted without hesitation. The bag zipped neatly and she slung it over her shoulder. Gaara's gift was a solid weight between her shoulder blades, all other accoutrement settled beneath it. Sasuke scowled without showing teeth as he leaned against the kitchen wall carefully, regarding her with dark eyes, not completely awake.

"Is this about last night?" he asked. His voice was pleasantly gravelly with sleep, but she still felt annoyed. She stopped, trying to think clearly.

With a sigh she turned, grasping her bag straps, and said, "It's one thing if you were tired, but you can't just _ignore_ me." Her eyes met his, holding his stare. He frowned at the accusation and pushed away from the wall.

Taking a few steps toward her, he countered, "I wasn't ignoring you, and I _was_ tired. I thought I made that clear last night." Oh, but his eyes were so pretty when he was annoyed.

…No! Resolve!

She smiled wanly as he closed the distance, wishing he had been so close, so willing last night. He stood a breath away from her, but she was still wounded by his disregard, and now she had a mission.

"We'll talk when I get back," she murmured, not unkindly. Yes, she had to be strong.

"How long will you be gone?" he asked after a long moment, still frowning. His face was more expressive than his tones. Sasuke was not trying to stop her, not trying to work through the problem. He was a man who understood duty, the need to press on even when feelings were rough. He was probably the king of perseverance, but all she wanted was… was him. For him to want her enough to tell her to screw duty and to stay with him.

"Just under a week," she answered, and his mouth opened to protest. She slipped forward, catching his lips before he could form words that he might not attempt. She lingered a bit longer than necessary. Her hand was gentle against his jaw, and she felt his warm, warm calloused hand cup her neck. The friction was too pleasant. She had to be strong, to be fair to herself.

She pulled away first, his bottom lip caught between hers. "See you soon," she whispered, and then turned away, disappearing from the room in a gust of vibrant cherry blossom petals. Light feet carried her away from the house quickly.

As she left, she wondered who she was punishing more.

* * *

><p>The first leg of her mission was not completely solo, as it turned out. Naruto was standing at the massive western gates, looking put out and grumbling as she approached.<p>

"These kids are later than Kakashi-sensei ever was."

She pushed unpleasant thoughts of conflict out of her head and wondered at his exaggeration as one of his genin skipped forward. The young ninja was certainly perky for an early morning mission.

"G'morning Nar'to-senseeei!" she chirped as her head bobbed. Sakura hid a shudder and turned to the young man who was now beaming at her as if to say, 'Hey, check it out. I've got a student!'

He had saved her life more times than she could remember, and she had saved his a few times as well. They had been through hell and back together over the fate of her husband, a person as dear to him as to her. They had spent the last years of their childhood and most of their adulthood forging unbreakable bonds. And yet still…

"I don't think I'll ever get used to hearing that…" she announced with wry amusement.

Naruto pouted at her until he noticed the young kunoichi watching the conversation with focused attention. He cleared his throat and said, "This is a great learning opportunity, Sakura-chan." He covered his mouth slightly and whispered, "For all parties involved."

"Megumi, you want to see what's taking the others so long?" he overly groused, switching back into put-upon teacher mode as he looked to the petite girl. Perky, despite his tone, she nodded her head and bounced back the way she had come. She only glanced over her shoulder at them once before disappearing.

"Are you always so grouchy with them?" Sakura asked critically. "They're genin." Naruto smirked, crossing his arms behind his head in a boyish gesture. Ten years removed from being a genin himself and he was still Naruto through and through.

"They gotta be nurtured the _ninja_ way," he countered cheekily. Sakura took that to mean he liked beating them up whenever possible.

She smiled and shook her head, trusting him more than she would let on. Though she gave him grief whenever possible, she knew he was one of the best possible ninja Konoha could have teaching the future generation. No one else had risen to his level of expertise through sheer determination and hard work, not to mention his personality never failed to make everyone he met feel warm and personally looked after.

His eyes focused on something beyond them. Sakura followed his stare to see Megumi already returning with her two other teammates in tow. Her two russet pigtails were bouncing with her every step. The two boys behind her seemed less pleased with her enthusiasm than even Naruto, but they kept pace with her.

"Well, I suppose I should be on my way," Sakura said, ready to get the mission underway. Still, she felt grateful for the intersection with one of her best friends.

"Where are you off to?" he asked, ignoring the squabbling beginning between his half-awake team.

Sakura eyed the four for a moment, then answered, "Wind Country." She tightened the straps on her shoulders as she clarified, "To Sand."

"Oh, we're going that direction for a while! Want to come with us?" he offered brightly. She took note of the genin, one of whom Megumi had in a headlock while she noogied him maniacally. Something about that seemed vaguely familiar…

"I'm not babysitting," she responded, her brow quirked higher than her disparaging tone. Naruto grinned at her, undeterred.

"Nah, we have a C-rank to Earth Country, picking up some supplies for the Old Lady. We can split ways tomorrow!" He began to walk through the gates, his team wordlessly following him while their relations steadily deteriorated.

"Ah. Supplies of the fermented variety?" she quipped, falling into step next to him. "Watch out for missing nin and their underlings…"

Naruto snorted at the memory of Team Seven's first mission away from home. Then he answered, "Yeah, yeah… It's good to keep up diplomatic relations with the Tsuchikage, anyway, since we're gonna be contemporaries soon, ya know." He smirked at her before his eyes took on a curious gaze. "Whatcha doing in Sand, anyway?"

"Delivery for the Kazekage," she replied, smirking as she waited for his wail of discontent. Naruto rarely missed an opportunity to visit his long time friend, political aspirations or no. Despite time and distance, Gaara and Naruto's friendship had only strengthened.

The jinchuuriki surprised her when he answered quite cheerily, "Give him my regards. Tell him I hope he dreams of baby cherubs and rainbows." Sakura frowned at his message.

"I'm not telling _him_ that. It'd be creepy."

"No, he'll like it," Naruto assured her, nodding his head. The cheeky grin on his face made her chuckle.

Sakura shook her head, and at that moment she realized that she had begun traveling with them. Konoha was already several meters behind. She rolled her eyes and gave him a smirk. He returned his familiar fox-like grin and said, "So we'll part ways near Ame?"

"Isn't that a little out of your way?" she asked carefully, silently pleased with the offer. Her heart was still hurting. Despite her desperation to get away from her husband, it felt good not to be alone.

"Nah, not too much," he replied with a friendly shrug. "Besides, it's good for the brats! Make 'em work on preserving chakra and all that."

One of the brats, having followed the conversation, interjected a, "You're always pushing us too much!"

Sakura quickly glanced over her shoulder in surprise at the three children. Megumi was not looking at either of the jounin. A short boy in the middle of the group was watching his toes with great interest. The third of their party stood behind Naruto with a telling grimace and made no attempt to break his gaze from Sakura's. They all looked healthy enough to her, and none of them seemed to be suffering from any trauma associated with being "pushed too much." Sakura shrugged at them before turning back to face forward.

"It's good for ninja to be pushed. Especially on C-rank missions," she said finally.

The grimacing one rolled his eyes, and muttered, "Why is this old lady walking with us again? Is this endurance training?"

Sakura felt a surge of annoyance, followed by a desire for violence. The past twelve hours were starting to catch up with her. She settled for words, which expended less energy.

The genin barely had time to cringe, when she whirled on him, "Shut yer trap, assface! Mind your teacher!" Whirling back to Naruto, she added, "Your team sucks. You should probably work on that." Grabbing the taut straps of her bag, she added, a touch more calmly, "Actually, this is probably karma since you were so obnoxious when you were younger." It was a gratifying silence that ensued behind her.

Naruto glanced at her from his peripheral vision, surprisingly calm and unperturbed by her outburst. Maybe he really was growing up… hopefully not beyond taking her words to heart, though.

When she slid her own gaze to him, he asked, "So this why _you_ haven't had a team before?" She smirked at him, unamused, when a snort behind them interrupted whatever she had been going to say, or not say.

"Like any team would have her!" Megumi's voice chirped from the back. She would have expected something from the sullen solo genin, but not a united from. Sakura tensed again before she turned on her own former teammate, who shrugged nervously.

"I've been teaching them to act like a team?" he asked in a more familiar, desperate tone.

"Shannaro!" Sakura answered with a glowing fist.

* * *

><p>Naruto picked a flat campsite to set up for the night. He was delineating chores between the children when Sakura sprang into the trees to secure the site. It was not her normal function in missions, but by some miracle they had the first leg of the trip injury-free and her healing skills were unneeded.<p>

She was pleased to see that her friend had grown into a competent instructor. His team respected him, even if they were a mouthy bunch. "They're just young. Brats won't stay brats forever," she reminded herself silently.

She gave extra time to securing the small campsite, perhaps an overly cautious measure. Safety would never be overrated, though.

Team Naruto had been a good distraction from her own woes with their bickering and sometimes showmanship. Offering her services was the least she could do as an unspoken thanks. Megumi, Takamaru, the undisputed quietest of the four, and Sakidou, who was just as prickly with his teammates as he had been with Sakura, comprised the team. She chose not to be offended his comments anymore.

When she returned, Naruto was guiding Takamaru through a fire technique to properly christen the campsite. She stood to the side, silently watching the instruction between the two. The quiet boy did not seem to mind having his personal space invaded. Naruto grabbed his fingers purposefully to tighten the necessary hand seal before making him go through the motions again. She felt the tell tale swell of chakra before watching Takamara shudder. He opened his mouth and unexpectedly burped a fireball the size of his head. Everyone froze for a moment before Naruto began laughing genially. Takamaru flushed in embarrassment, but grinned when his teacher clapped a hand over his shoulder. It was such a cute mistake that Sakura, too, found herself covering her mouth to hide her laughter.

"That was pretty good for a first try," the blond instructor said after his laughter had quieted to a few chuckles. "Let's give it another go before Sakidou and Megumi return."

Only a few minutes later, warm flames were licking and spitting over kindling. Between the fire and the finishing sunset, the entire camp was bathed in lively crimson, majestic purple.

Sakura took a seat in front of the open heat, smiling as Naruto joined her. Takamaru vanished to join his teammates in another task and she grinned openly at him. It was a smile he returned easily as he dropped to the ground.

She turned her gaze back to the fire and spoke, "Just in case you were wondering, you really _are_ a good instructor."

"Yeah, I know."

She snorted, resisting the urge to smack him. He was just being Naruto. That was the best person he could ever be. She was still staring at the fire when her blond friend cleared his throat. She looked at him and smiled, unable to hold back some of the pride she felt for his accomplishment.

He paused a moment, listening for breaks in the silence and then asked, "So what's going on?" Sakura stilled at the question.

"What do you mean?"

His eyes looked golden in the firelight as their gazes met. The fire caused shadows to flicker over his eyelids, and for a moment he looked as if he had silently gone into Sage mode. She had a brief feeling that she would not be able to hide her feelings even if she wanted to.

The golden eyes rolled, though not impatiently, and he smirked at her. "You've been extra… _Exuberant_ today," he offered carefully, smiling gently in a different tactic. Sakura smiled internally, and then slowly externally. Naruto had always been good at reading people, except for sometimes awkward, sometimes hilarious occasions that inexperience overran his natural empathy. She thought of Tsunade and her early morning awareness. Naruto was going to make an excellent Hokage.

Still, she couldn't _not_ make him work for it.

"Do you even know what 'exuberant' means?" she sidetracked. Naruto snorted.

"Stop trying to divert my attention by insulting me," he replied with a friendly bit of a bite. She laughed again and nodded. He was not going to be easily distracted after all.

"Where's your team?" she asked cautiously. He cocked his head away from her, listening again.

"Fishing," he answered simply, then turned his attention back to her.

So came the explanation of what had happened the night before, including the two weeks leading up to it; Sakura's patience, anxiety, desire for her husband. Two weeks of waiting culminating in nothing more than blasé, obligatory words. Even then, it had feel like excavation to get anything out of him.

"It wouldn't bother me except that it's such a trend with him," she said as her countenance fell, fingers locking and unlocking with a telling anxiety. It felt good to release the words, but the reality of the situation had not changed, and that rankled. "I just… Even when we-" She flushed, shooting him a warning glance, "make love, sometimes it feels like he's _tolerating_ it." Naruto's face was solemn. She felt relief, and then shame. She had expected him to laugh at her the way he had laughed at Takamaru. She should have known better.

"How often?" he asked carefully. "Like, all the time?"

"No," she answered, shaking her head with frustration, grateful there was a man she felt close enough to discuss this with. "Not even half the time or a quarter of the time. Just… enough to notice."

He nodded and looked at the fire, trusting her words to be objective. Glancing at him, she felt embarrassment well up in her. Once out of her mouth, the words sounded more selfish than concern-worthy. Sasuke had _said_ he was tired.

"He might be at his limit," her friend said at length. Internally, she started, wondering what the words meant. She was quiet as he continued. "Maybe this effort is all he can give you. I mean, I don't know- don't really _want_ to know- how often you guys are going at it, but the guy's human. If he comes home after a two-week mission and doesn't… want to…" The words faded as his face screwed into a confused stare. He seemed suddenly conflicted over defending his friend and the reality of men's desires.

Sakura was vindicated by his hesitation, though, and quickly announced, "That's what I said! What man wouldn't want to sleep with his wife, especially when she was doing all the work?"

After a moment, Naruto shrugged again, displaying a bit of helplessness. "He's Sasuke. He's got his own rulebook. Besides," he added, shooting her an accusing expression, "It's not like you didn't know how he was- I mean, beyond sex and stuff…"

"No," she admitted. She had known Sasuke for a decade, everything his personality entailed, and her concerns spanned beyond just the issue of sex. "…and I don't mean to imply I regret anything. I don't. I love him so much that… there aren't even words for…"

"I know how much you love him," he supplied gently. Again, Sakura started. This time her expression gave her away, but Naruto grinned and shook his head, all at ease. He had proclaimed his love for her on more than one occasion as children, and his bromance with Sasuke knew no bounds. "Your love will cover a lot, but you really need to talk to the asshole when you get home."

"Yeah," she agreed, feeling confident that that was the first step to rectifying the situation. She stood and stretched her arms overhead. Confident, but not happy. "This will be some good time for both of us to cool off…" She smirked down at him. "Maybe Sasuke-kun will even grow some emotional brain cells."

"He's more likely to grow boobs," Naruto retorted without missing a beat. She glared down at him and he realized he had spoken aloud. "Uhhh," he explained.

"Was that supposed to be a joke?" she asked warningly.

"Yes?"

"No."

Before she could further unnerve him, she rolled her eyes and stepped towards her bedroll. "I'm going to sleep." She had not managed another step when he was standing behind her, a hand clasped on her shoulder. She glanced back and saw Naruto standing behind her as if she had never moved. When he had become so fast? So silent?

"Hey," he said calmly, serious once more. "Whatever happens, you guys are going to be fine. I know it. You're past the hardest part, after all." He smirked, but it still conveyed his concern, warm and open. Then he softened altogether. His hand squeezed as he added, "I believe in you as much as Sasuke."

The thought, its emotion, was a balm to her spirit after the past day's turmoil. It warmed her from the inside out and she visibly relaxed. Smiling sweetly, she leaned forward to kiss his cheek. His blush was visible even in the light of the fire.

There was a rustling in the bushes behind them as Sakidou emerged, Megumi and Takamaru in tow. All three were holding lines of small silver fish. Catching the two jounin, the unpleasant genin smirked before he and Megumi broke into catcalls. Takamaru even whistled while Sakura slowly pulled away. She had nothing to be embarrassed about.

"Teamwork, huh?" she asked, slapping his face a little rougher than necessary. Even with the genin arguing over the fish, and Naruto finally yelling at them to keep it down, Sakura slept easier that night than she had in nearly a week.

She woke the next morning before sunrise while the genin slept on. She double-checked her package, making sure none of the brats had tampered with it (Naruto had faithfully scared them into inaction) and then began to silently pack for the next two days' travel. Her mind felt much clearer, and she spared her sleeping friend a grateful smile. She was doubly purposed now. The present would be delivered and then she would return to her husband and make things right.

She was just preparing to leave when Naruto sat up from his sleeping roll and blinked at her blearily. The sleep departed quickly when he saw her state of readiness.

"Getting an early start?" he asked and did not bother to hide a feline yawn.

"I have some extra motivation," she replied, thinking of how she might be able to make the next five days speed by more quickly. Naruto grinned and began to pull himself out of his bag when she said, "Thank you. Again." He grinned and nodded to her.

"Anything for you, Sakura-chan." She smiled gratefully and nodded before leaping to the trees. He did not give his words lightly, promises upheld years after they were made. She knew if she had any other problems, she could turn to him.

Sasuke would likely be home when she returned, unless he decided to pull the same unfortunate tactic she had. He was a self-proclaimed avenger, after all. His experience punishing people amounted to more than all of her petty thoughts added together. Still, if he had taken a mission without informing her, she would be the one to break the cycle.

The first leg of running passed uneventfully. She stopped once to double-check the security of her luggage and drank some water. Lush temperate forests gave way to coniferous giants that quickly stunted in size the closer she got to the desert. The no man's land surrounded Amegakure was a small area, and the border of Wind came even faster than she had anticipated.

It was barely an hour before she crossed into the rocky borderlands, and she felt her spirits boost. If she pushed, she could be on the outskirts of Suna by nightfall, cutting a whole day out of her trip. A goodnight's sleep would secure a good travel day tomorrow, and before she could bother counting how much chakra the trip would cost her, she would be home again.

Two years, and more before that, she had been waiting for her husband. Somehow she had gotten it in her head at the alter that from the first kiss a switch would flip and they would be mind numbingly happy. It was scientifically documented, after all, that the first two to three years of marriage were lived in a bubble of newlywed bliss. Only after those obligatory years did the blinders come off and both saw the other for who they really were. In their case, it felt like the blinders had never been _on_.

Sasuke's return to Konoha in the end had been rushed and penitent. For all of the things he was, decisive was near the top of the list. When he had made up his mind that he had been wrong about Konoha, that he had fallen for Madara's manipulation, and resolved to return to his homeland, he had done so with alacrity, with purpose. The fact that he had turned on Uchiha Madara, espousing his decision as "seeing underneath the underneath", had won him some clemency from the powers-that-be.

They had spent a year restoring Team Seven before Naruto had departed for a genin team at Tsunade's urging. He needed documented proof of leadership capabilities. No one would support a Hokage who had never served in a leadership position, no matter how strong he was.

Sasuke had shown interest in her for months leading up to the time he finally began courting her. Months because she had not initially seen it for what it was; extra support during joint training, because he had far surpassed her in his time away, yet was gentle enough to prevent overwhelming her; enduring glances while lunching and; after a few dates, casual touches that could not be confused with anything _but_ interest. Realization had made her giddy. She wondered if maybe she had had blinders after all.

Afterward, she had wondered if Naruto's separation from their team was the catalyst for it all. It was only when he had taken a team that Sasuke had made a move.

"Should've made him leave sooner!" Inner Sakura raged.

"Or should have made Sasuke work for it harder," she countered, more gracious to her friend while the thought still nagged her. There was no helping it now that they were married, and she still did not regret anything. Yet, she could not help but wonder if making him work harder for her would have guaranteed more affection from him in the long term. She would always know how much she loved him, each and every day. Would he always remember how much he was supposed to love her?

Her thoughts absorbed her almost entirely. She was unaware of the others' presence until the first senbon sliced past her, nicking her neck in crisp, cool pain. Tsunade had been right, after all.

With a sudden stop, she pushed chakra through her feet and re-attached herself to the boulder she had been ready to jump from. The needle-like weapon had been a warning. So said the smirk of the nin who slowly topped the jagged boulder to her left.

Her fingers found the cut and did not bother to check the degree of blood flow. She healed it before it sullied her shoulder and then crouched. Hard green eyes never left the shinobi.

His, or her, hitai-ate said Ame. Even if she had not seen it, the full cream-colored body-suit and breathing apparatus would have given him away. Her senses told her there were more of them.

"You're a little out of line, aren't you?" she asked in introduction. "Attacking a foreign ninja in a country not your own…" She tsked while feeling for the chakra signatures of the rest of his companions. There seemed to be three, including the one in front of her.

"And yet you are even farther from home, Leaf," he wheezed. The mask covering his mouth garbled his words. She judged from his height and build to say he was a man. Even if he proved to be a _she_, there were only so many differences in the weak spots of the sexes. Arteries, eyes, joints; they all numbered the same. None of it mattered, really, if she could get a clear shot.

He attacked with no extra warning, and his movements belied his nationality. Had he worn any other garb she would have thought him a Sand-nin. He moved fluidly over the rocky terrain. A second nin appeared at her back, and she leaped high to avoid being sandwiched, or halved, between the two as they attacked in a lariat-like move. Her fingers borrowed Naruto's favorite seal and she summoned one chakra-heavy shadow clone.

She fell back to the ground as the third nin appeared. The first, the only one to speak, vanished back into the terrain while she and her clone engaged the other two. Three against one… Not good odds, even when she had not been running at full speed for an hour. She would have to end it quickly.

They fought as underhandedly as she remembered from her first chuunin exam. That was okay with her. She could fight dirty too.

She heard a garbled, spluttering thud as her clone dispatched the third nin, the smallest of the three, with a chakra knife to the neck. If she had had others to back her up she might have tried for a prisoner, but there was no safety net for her, no time to enable such caution. They attacked with killing intent. At a mental nudge, her bunshin sprinted away to find where the first had vanished. He was not forgotten. The second nin, the largest of the three, was not going down as easily as the third. He was making it hard for her to think of _why_ they had attacked at all.

He was big, and slower than the first had been. He used senbon, jabbing at her in strokes that would lend him speed, but he was too massive to overwhelm her that way. Her training with Sasuke had been fruitful, and she was more than fast enough to work around the giant's darting attacks. One particular jab would have broken her ribs for sure had she not swiveled around it, snapping two fingers against his wrist-

"_Why use four when two will suffice? Be efficient in _all_ things for speed_." Sasuke's teaching.

The wrist crackled loudly under her chakra, jerking a guttural groan from her opponent that not even the breathing apparatus could hide. Then she _did_ use four fingers, grabbing the broken limb and heaving the offending nin over her shoulder to slam him into the ground. His body was a conduit for her chakra, dropping into the rock like white Zetsu had years before. He sank a few inches into the unforgiving stone before water burst around her hands and ankles. A water clone.

She felt her own clone disperse involuntarily, and her senses spiked with necessary awareness. Turning her head, over her shoulder, she looked for her remaining attackers.

Water struck her full across the face in a thick torrent that knocked her off of her feet. She landed on her pack and felt a dreadful crunch in the bag. For but a moment she was like a turtle, caught off balance and stuck.

She rolled to her side, but the first nin was there and quickly planted an anchoring kick in her ribs. Continuing to roll with his attack, she dropped off of the boulder into knee deep water created by the rushing suiton. The kick had definitely cracked bone, and there was not enough time to heal such an injury with the first nin still bearing down on her.

She had not forgotten about the large one, but he still managed to sneak up on her, gliding soundlessly over the water. It was not her he grabbed but the topmost handle of her deflated backpack. "The box?" she thought with silent incredulity.

He gave it a good yank just as she gripped the straps, more determined than ever to hang onto the parcel. She began to pull herself out of the boggy water, prepared to give flight when she felt a cool point against her forehead.

Her eyes rolled forward slowly to the leader of the trio. The touch was his gloved index finger pressing solidly against the center of her skull. Even at this distance she could see the rest of his fingers twisted into an unfamiliar shape. It was a single-handed seal, one that she did not recognize, but she could feel the chakra humming just out of reach, like a loaded gun waiting to be fired.

He was going to kill her. He was going to kill her, take the box, and then Gaara would never see what fantastic gifts Konoha's trees could produce.

She thought of Sasuke, of his disappointment and the failure to reconcile. She missed him terribly. She would die alone.

"Bang," the leader wheezed.

The world faded away.

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><p>AN: I'm hoping that given how many people read the prologue for this story, a few more people will review. I would really appreciate it :)<p>

A few notes about relationships from your concerned author; people don't change when they enter a relationship, not as a condition of entering one, anyway. While anyone can understand the expecation one might have for such a change, hoping for it is frustrating and (sorry to say) a little immature. People change because they want to, not simply based on the desires of others. If they don't want to change, they won't. If you're in this kind of relationship, do yourself a big, big service and get out! It'll be better for you AND the person you're with. I mean it. Ack, am I shooting my story in the foot with my own advice? Hrrrmmm! I'm just going to go with the "That's why they call it fiction!" clause on this one.


	3. Love

AN: Hey friends, thanks _so much_ for your sweet reviews :D I must say it's really encouraging when people acknowledge your work, and they really did pump me up and help me get the sixth chapter finished nicely. For your kind words, here is the second chapter :D! I'm excited to say I only have four more sections to write and then the story will be completely complete! We're looking at ten chapters and an epilogue. Oh, and since some of you made note about angst, I hope you will still like this chapter. It's pretty lovey :)

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><p>When she woke, and woke she did, the first feeling she had was of comfort. Then surprise that she was awake, then relief. Half-remembered panic receded until she breathed easily and opened her eyes. It was neither open sky nor Rain ninja that answered her curiosity. It was Konoha's hospital ceiling; white, sterile, and completely familiar. Even if she was used to seeing it with an angled neck and on her feet, instead of lying on her back in a tell-tale cot.<p>

"Hey, you're awake," a familiar voice spoke. She realized for the first time that someone was holding her hand. Her attention shifted to Naruto, who was staring down at her from his seat by the bed.

"Hey," she greeted before yawning. Her jaw cracked loudly, surprising her briefly. That was unusual. She was rubbing the curved bone as she asked, "What _happened_?" The room was comforting in its familiarity.

"You were attacked," he answered. She glanced to his face in confusion. The flat, even tone was one he rarely used with her, and she smiled at him as much to comfort him as herself. He did not return the expression. His face was unusually solemn, and he did not try to break eye contact with her.

She made to sit up, ignoring his command to 'go easy!' even as he rushed to help her. The shift invited unfamiliar pain from her face, her stomach, her lumbar. Her ribs, which she knew had been attacked, felt fine by comparison, and even the pain in the other places was stale. A quick internal scan confirmed to her that the wounds were old, half-healed.

The, "I'm fine," meant to calm him was on her lips when she stopped short, eyes dropping to her chest. A sheaf of pink threads had slipped over her shoulder. The strands of hair trailed over her breast and stopped almost at her waist. Shy, wary fingers gave them a cautious tug. They held fast, and her scalp smarted like sparks. Sudden worry in her expression caught Naruto's attention better than her calm demeanor had.

"Sakura…?" he uttered quietly.

"Naruto," she countered, pulling all of the hair over her shoulder. It was long. "What happened?" she asked, almost rhetorically. _All_ of it was long, longer even than when she had been a genin. "It's so long," she muttered to herself, not giving him a chance to speak. Then she glanced at him again and asked firmly. "What kind of jutsu did this?" And what were the other effects, she wanted ask.

The Rain nin had cornered her. She had seen the one-handed seal, felt its chakra. Had it caused this? Had the technique unleashed horrifically fast metabolism on her that would begin an irreversible aging process? What was the rest of her body like? Was she going to die that much faster now?

"Jutsu?" he asked with sincere confusion, interrupting her increasingly panicked thoughts. Naruto seemed unperturbed by her hair; its uncanny growth did not catch his eye. Instead he was anchored on her words, her worry.

"Yes!" she snapped. Annoyance with his obtuseness was overriding her worries. His confusion only increased at her sharp tone, but before she could clarify, Sasuke entered the room.

The sight of her smiling husband drove the concerns from her mind. His presence would have done so singularly, but she sensed there was something else about him; a quiet intensity in his expression, tension in his body.

She smiled at him, almost shyly, feeling penitent at the memories of their not-quite argument. He returned the expression, though it was his usual smirk more than a smile.

Naruto stood silently and left the room without another word, but Sakura barely noticed his departure. She did not call after him, at any rate. Surely her husband could answer her questions as well as their former teammate. That Sasuke only had eyes for her commanded her attention.

He closed the distance between them and sat on the bed, completely ignoring the visitor's chair. She opened her mouth to speak, but the words stopped as he laid a gentle palm on her shoulder. Obediently, she laid back as he pressed her into the uncomfortable mat, uncurling his own body to lie next to her. The bed seemed to disappear with the two of them twined so closely together, but she did not pay mind to the lack of space. She gaped at him, and felt only happiness. Finally he broke the silence.

"How are you feeling?" were the words he whispered. The tenderness in his tone sealed her attention, her adoration. She almost forgot the pain from her injuries as she stared at his attentive expression. His dark eyes were as beautiful as they had been the morning she had demanded a mission from the Hokage.

"I feel fine," she lied, caught up in the moment. It was so beautiful; she did not want to spoil it with meager concerns. Her body would heal. Besides, she felt better than fine..

The smirk tugging at his lips broke into a full smile, and her breath caught. Her eyes were locked on his beautiful, thin lips and white, square teeth. She almost missed the words they created. Almost.

"I'm sorry," he murmured, leaning forward to press a quick kiss to her jaw. A small swell of pain answered the touch, clearing her mind. He seemed to be entirely focused, though, ready to continue his affections when she quickly shook her head. He was not the only one at fault, after all.

"I'm sorry, too," she interjected. Had Naruto spoken to him? She had not specifically asked her friend not to, but she thought it had been understood. Their conversation in the woods was to remain between them, and she would fix things with Sasuke by herself. Still, she could not find it in herself to be angry when the results were so pleasant. Sasuke was being so… _wonderful_. "I shouldn't have left the way I did," she added after a moment.

"No," he said, but his tone agreed with her. She smiled, and her fingers grasped the lapels of his shirt, but they had little work to do. He was already sliding forward, his lips meeting hers. "I'm sorry," he said before a damp, chaste kiss met her mouth. "I'm sorry," he whispered again, and again dotted his affection. And so it went to the tune of, "I'm sorry, sorry, sorry." Her worry vanished completely, replaced by a gooey ball of mushy goodness in her heart. She could not stop the laugh that bubbled against his dutiful lips.

_This_. This affection was what she had wanted on his return. It was warm and heart-filling. She had failed the mission. The box had never made it to Sand, but lying in the hospital bed snuggled up to her husband, it did not feel anything remotely like a failure.

They left the hospital a short time later, and it was Sasuke who commandeered the paperwork for her release. She saw neither Shizune or Tsunade, but felt no concern for their absences. If neither woman had been hovering over her upon waking, nor left a message to check in, it was safe to assume that debriefing could be postponed. Her teammates had come to check on her, and she had reconciled with Sasuke in an extremely agreeable way. Despite the dull, lingering pain in her stomach and back, she felt amazing.

Outside the hospital gates, Sasuke took her hand boldly, leading her through the streets toward home. She tensed, feeling slightly dumbfounded. It was one thing to cuddle in private, or in the semi-private hospital room, but for PDA to occur in the street? In broad daylight, no less!

His thumb was caressing her palm in a way that sent tingles up her arm. It was such a small touch, but the result demanded air in her lungs. When she chanced to glance at him, surprised at the display, his dark eyes were already looking down at her.

"I, uh-" she began, feeling like a genin. It was unnerving to have so much of his attention in such a _normal_ setting, especially when she was not digging for it in some way. "I should probably make an appointment," she tried, rallying her thoughts to something other than the way hand-holding was doing funny, pleasant things to her stomach. Surely, drawing attention to it would only make him stop. "You know. To have my hair cut," she clarified, her free hand fingering the strands.

Confusion flickered over his face and stayed there. Again, a disconcerting expression.

"No," he countered with a decisive tone. The confusion was gone. He was smiling again. "I prefer it long." She blinked, thinking about Academy days-gone-by and how long her hair had been then. That posturing on her part had been an attempt to catch his attention and had never seemed to work. One pointless jutsu so many years later and he was finally taking notice?

She smiled up at him, murmuring coyly, "Ara. You really _do_ like longer hair." The smirk he gave her in response was more familiar. As high as she was on the public affection, the smirk grounded her and cemented the happiness that had been building in her sense they had reunited.

"Your hair is beautiful," he said calmly. "It's uniquely yours. You should keep it."

Sakura stopped curiously, frozen in her steps by the unlikely compliment. Even in his darkest days he had not cruelly set her up to fall with such comments. His face was placid as he held her gaze. The thumb on her palm had never stopped circling. He was sincere; he really did like her hair.

It took most of her control to not stutter when she answered, "Well then, I will."

At home, she pushed the half-healed wounds out of her head as he led her to their bed. There would be time to heal them, but that would come later. Sasuke was not simply tolerating her, and she did not want to miss the opportunity for anything. He was taking an active role in their love, passivity left behind.

It was he who gently pushed her to their bed. It was he who pulled away the shirt, his shirt, that she had worn home from the hospital, hers too roughed up to be decent. His warm and calloused fingers were pleasant textures against her scalp, and she decided she really would keep the longer hair, jutsu or no.

His breath, his mouth, were warm in the dark when they found her lips and moved confidently against her. She responded with the same genuineness she always did, but her eagerness was paramount in light of his enthusiasm. When his fingers surfed the sides of her body with careful familiarity, she leaned in closer to his frame. She did not think of the wounds, but his touch made it clear that he had not forgotten them.

Sasuke held her securely in his arms, teasing her playfully before he took her, and she was swept away by his gentle and selfless touch. He had ever been unkind to her, but there was an altogether different feel to his approach. It was like nothing Sakura could remember from him in the two years of their marriage. Twice.

Some time later, she lay unmoving on her stomach, staring at the man who laid much the same. He was comfortably sweaty, and smelled tangy and earthy. Familiar. Sakura was sure her glow had little to do with the water on her body. She could not stop grinning at him.

"I'm sorry," he spoke, kissing the tricep that lay in his face. It was a faint echo of his sentiments at the hospital. She continued grinning like an idiot, but shook her head, wrapping her arm around his neck.

"It's ok. That was a _great_ apology."

Later, when she was tucking her head against his clavicle, still planting soft kisses on his chest while he dozed, she thought idly Naruto had never once called her, "Sakura-chan."

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><p>She woke the next morning to make breakfast, and was unsurprised to find Sasuke already out of bed. He usually woke before her, the morning of her mission an odd exception. Even with a healthy dose of love from the night before, things seemed to be getting back on track.<p>

"_Hell, better than on track!_" Inner Sakura purred happily. Sakura agreed with an enthusiastic nod as she slipped out of bed.

Though he was awake and out of bed, she had not expected to find him in the kitchen, already dishing food into breakfast serving bowls. The break in her movements caught his attention more than her original approach, and he turned to flash a smile before resuming his task. It took another five full seconds before she broke out of her stupor. She had almost expected him to be back to normal after their reunion, quiet and slightly aloof.

Sasuke did not make breakfast, either. It was no secret to either of them that he _could_ cook. Survival had demanded it from an early age, but by their traditions, she made breakfast every morning and dinner every night.

Well, she _had_ been in the hospital. Maybe he was just taking extra good care of her. She was certainly not going to starting complaining now… She smiled as he pushed a cup of tea into her hand and pressed a kiss to her brow.

They sat in comfortable silence sharing rice. He had given himself a serving of hijiki while doling three separate umeboshi into her portion. It was simple, filling, and plain as far as meals could go. It was the most wonderful breakfast she had eaten in ages.

When he caught her staring at him, he set his hashi down and reached around the table. She could see his hand, see where it was going, but just the same it startled her when he grabbed her foot. When he pulled it into his lap and began to knead the appendage, she nearly choked on her rice.

"_Maybe I should get put in the hospital more often,_" she thought with morbid brainstorming.

"You're… amazing," she said, flushing, not embarrassed at all to be stuttering over her words. Her face was hot from thoughts of the night before. He had been so giving and- and… _loving_. There was no other word for it. For him to fix her breakfast and rub her feet, all without compulsion or complaining… She carefully slipped her own hands under the edge of the table and performed the genjutsu-release technique. He grinned at her.

Still, his knuckles continued to dig into her arches, her plantar.

"_O_-kay!" she said, and finally drew the foot away from him. "If you keep that up, I'm going to need to have another session of last night." He laughed at her wording, but did not take up the less than subtle suggestion. Instead, he finished his food quickly and stood from the table.

"I've got to work, but I'll be home for dinner." She watched as he moved around the kitchen, morning light playing beautifully on an already beautiful man. He put away the dishes and the food, leaving her and the half-full kettle on the stove.

"What would you like to eat then?" she asked as he began to leave the room. He had been dressed from the moment she had first entered the kitchen, already prepared to depart. He turned to smirk at her question, then he closed the distance between them.

"Whatever you make, I'll love it." The statement was affirmed with a kiss, free and gentle, possessive. It was distracting that he would continue to be so affectionate. He seemed content, happy even. This was not an attempt at procreation, though last night had been a good try, she admitted silently. This was simply gratitude. She had been in the hospital but was going to be fine. That was why he felt the need to continue on so. Either way, she was not going to deter him.

He left for the Hokage's Tower, leaving her dancing in the kitchen, happier than she had been in months. Even before his mission from a few days ago, before anxiety and fear and want, she could not remember being as happy as she was now.

"Oh!" she started in the silence. She had been too caught up in her own thoughts to even ask about his mission. Feeling a twinge of regret, she quickly consoled herself that it couldn't be too dangerous if he were going to be home in time for dinner.

Rising from the table, she refilled her teacup and took a stand at the kitchen window. In the back was the long dock where Sasuke had learned his first katon as a child. It was not what her eyes saw, though.

Instead, she saw lukewarm glances sent her way, and the casual touch of her shoulder as her then-fiance corrected her stance. She remembered a different type of love-making from what had taken place last night, still passionate and needed, but _different_. Then she thought of the smiles she had seen on Sasuke's face at the hospital, in the street, in the bedroom the night before.

A careful finger rolled too-long pink strands of hair between her fingers. She set the tea cup down and once more twisted her fingers against each other

"Kai," she muttered forcefully, expelling a surge of chakra, but also hoping desperately that nothing would change.

Nothing did. There was no flicker or shimmering breakdown of reality. She grinned, running her fingers over her eyes, against her scalp. "Kyaaa!" she squealed, dancing on the balls of her feet again.

Naruto had talked to Sasuke. That was the only explanation for it. Her friend, best friend, had made a casual word to her husband, or perhaps punched him in the throat, since the latter was more likely to get his attention. She was going to have to thank him somehow.

Her expression softened. "I'll never stop thanking you, will I, Naruto?" she wondered silently. Then she grinned a grin that split her face, and joy nearly ruptured her heart. Today was going to be a great day! "Shannaro!" she affirmed cheerfully.

There were no domestic tasks to complete to keep her busy that morning. The house was still clean from her stint a few days earlier. No missions would be assigned to her for at least a few more days while her body healed. She knew that much from past experience. Since injury was the only thing standing between her and relief from tedium, she made healing her priority.

In the quiet of their room she slipped out of her robe and stared at herself in the full-length mirror. The stale pains were still there, partially healed, waiting for attention. Her fingers carefully buried in the roots of her hair, grazing her scalp in careful examination. The only worrisome spot she found was above her right temple, at the rift between the temporal and sphenoid bones.

The results of the search surprised her. Chakra mapping said it was an old wound, and though no longer grievous, it had healed on its own. Neither Tsunade nor Shizune nor she herself had done any work on it during her time in the hospital. It had healed naturally. She frowned. It had healed naturally, but the signs said it had been large. Large and several months old.

She knew what the evidence told her, but the discovery brought doubt. To see it as so old, could it be that she had misunderstood? Had she actually hit her head during the encounter with the Rain nin? It seemed most likely, but as only a theory it did not satisfy her. Holding green-glowing fingers to the old contusion, her skills willed the last of it away with little effort. It would remain a mystery until she had a chance to speak to either her mentor or colleague.

The fingers moved on, skimming over her shoulders, her breasts, stopping at her stomach. It was the same story as her head, and after that her back. The injuries were easily healed, each taking only a few minutes, but at their origin they had been severe, blunt-force and taken head on. Had she even attempted to block them?

Her happy feelings did not lessen as the session went on, even though the three main injuries perturbed her. There was mostly good news. Still…

"I have to ask Tsunade-shishou about this. I have to know what actually happened after that one-handed seal." There was no time like the present, especially with her afternoon free. As it was, she wanted to see the woman for more than mystery-solving. Everything that had happened with Sasuke was partially due to the results of the mission gone awry, in addition to Naruto's efforts, of course. Her mentor was owed a thanks as much as a mission report.

She dressed quickly and had thrown open her front door when Kakashi appeared on the other side of it, a single hand raised.

"Sensei!" she said, surprised. When had he ever come to her home, even when invited? Even when she had been a genin?

"Yo," he answered with a loose wave. His eyebrow crinkled in greeting and she smiled in return, relaxing. There was a hesitant pause on her part as she waited for him to explain his presence. As casual as he was, there had to be some reason for it. His awareness was as sharp as ever. "How are you doing?" he asked as his face eased back to its ritual lazy-eyed stare. His visible black eye looked down at her probingly.

"Oh," she said, still somewhat surprised at the attention, but answered, "I'm fine!" Even with her confusion over the injuries, it was true. Besides, for her to be up walking around, and in her own home to boot, he should have known as much. She would not be lying down if she could at all heal herself.

They were still standing in the doorway when his face fell. It was a sad expression, and brought to mind the day years ago Naruto and Sasuke had fought on top of the hospital. They had both been sad, then, only she had been too naïve to understand the complexity of it all.

She was wondering why he was wearing the expression now. Her own life was so wonderful.

He quietly replied, "You don't have to pretend." She nearly laughed at him, trying to mask quiet concern with playfulness.

"Sensei," she answered, "I'm not pretending. I'm _really_ fine." She did not immediately share the mysteries of her old injuries. It would do no good to concern him or Sasuke or anyone else until she had a better handle on them. She was the medic in their group, and who better would understand her injuries on her body? No, sharing would only give cause for real concern.

When he shoved his hands in his pockets and continued to stare at her, she stepped outside with a sigh. "I slept a long time in the hospital, you know. Whatever it was, the jutsu's worn off. Well, except for this," she added, gesturing to the hair she had braided. It's length still confused her.

"Jutsu, huh?" he asked, unconvinced, but fell into step besides her just the same.

She paused at his tone, their walk impeded, and stared up at the man she had known for over a decade. An extra measure of concern was in his eye as he held her gaze.

"Sensei," she began. He really was not joking. He had yet to throw out a "maaa, anyway," or some quip about falling down the stairs of life. There had been no excuse for why he had not come to the hospital to visit her while. The lack continued lack of levity was telling. Her earlier resolve wavered, and she sighed gently before quirking a curious glance at him.

"Was Tsunade the one who worked on my injuries from the fight? Some of them were really mucked up," she explained. His dark eye widened as he regarded her, keeping pace with her step easily. He did not immediately answer. The visible part of his face was expressing the confusion she was sure she mirrored. "Was it Shizune?" she tried instead, hoping to motivate an answer.

"I'm not sure…" he began, and the seriousness of his tone made her stomach clench, "who Shizune is. But Tsunade, if you're referring to the Slug Princess, the granddaughter of Shodaime Hokage…" Sakura stopped altogether at his choice of words. "She hasn't been in Konoha for over a decade."

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><p>AN: Say whaaaat? Whutchoo talkin' bout Kakashi? And yeesh, Sasuke, when did you get to be so loverly? Er, lovey? …BOTH. I'm curious who has theories on what's going on, or rather, if you have theories, pray tell, what are they? Thanks for reading, and please take another few seconds to review. I really appreciate them :X!<p> 


	4. Story

AN: The longest chapter thus far! And I have to say, it was good of me to ask for reviews. Why? Well, besides sacrificing my pride, your comments showed me that I'm not as clever as I thought I was! So many of you are so close to what is really going on! Haha, I was very tickled by your responses. Admittedly, it could have been a coma, but I didn't even think about that. See? Stuff like that, I need to be aware of so I can utilize it to mislead you! More practice, please!

Okay, I hope this chapter pleases, and puts some of your worries to rest :) And makes others EXPLODE. Worries, that is. Not people.

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><p>Konoha had not been so quiet in a long time. The same mundane activities continued around him, as noisily as they always had. For him, though, the ever-present voice chattering not unpleasantly in his ear was gone. It had become commonplace, comforting like white noise that managed to drown out concealed anxieties and regrets with warmth and consistency.<p>

Sakura had not been gone two days, and before that span of time they had been separated for, but for a few hours, two weeks. It was not the separation that was unsettling him, but the unfortunate way they had parted. She had been hurt, a misguided kind of hurt in his opinion, but hurt nonetheless. Then she had tried to hide it, but since returning to Konoha, he had made it his business to understand her; to pursue her. It had been years before that he had been incapable of reading her, but no one could fault him for his tenacity. When he set out to learn something, he learned it. His wife was no exception, and he knew she was hurting.

He was not entirely sure it was his responsibility to make it right, but she had run away before he could even try. If there wasn't irony in that turn of events, then he was not an Uchiha.

They had had disagreements before, but always worked through them before either of them could depart. He scowled when he realized how distracted she would be. They were not genin anymore, nor chuunin even. If she'd taken a jounin-level mission, she'd be in danger, but she had not even revealed that much to him. Wasn't she the one who had tried to teach him not to run, not to isolate herself?

He gave pause, staring at the dusty ground, his face in a comfortable scowl. It was not the first time he attempted to empathize with his wife, but it was the first time he did so with regards to his absence from the village. Had she felt lonely, even when surrounded by people? Life, it seemed, worked in truly vicious cycles.

He continued walking towards his ancestral home, the home that was completely different from what he had known as a child. Time away had changed its aura, reality clashing with his memories. Time after his return, time with Sakura, had made it different still.

Yes, it was too quiet.

But the quiet made it easy to hear his old teacher's footfalls approaching. The steps were faint, easy like Anbu, but singular instead of the elites' usual pairs. No one else would have come to him in such a manner. The only question was why the man was running.

Sasuke paused, and turned, wishing for Kusanagi at his side. He had no need of it, but he wanted it- if for nothing but a comfortable, familiar handhold. Kakashi appeared faithfully, leaping over the building that had once been a general mart in his youth. He landed and stood swiftly, nothing slouched or lazy in his posture. He was ready for action. Sasuke mirrored his stance before the man opened his mouth.

"Sakura's been hurt," he said without preamble, pulling no punches. "Come to the hospital."

Kakashi knew it was the only way he need to hear the information, the only information he needed. So they went, even as his heart twisted with an anxiety. This kind of feeling was the sort that would eventually paralyze; not for its quick hold, or its justified shift to terror, because it led to nothing. It motivated him to nothing. He could not utilize it, could not fight it. It was born from the unknown and refused to be quelled.

Even running at top speed, the hospital was a full minute away. Kakashi was falling behind as Sasuke took the lead. He knew the quickest path from his home, thanks to Sakura's commute several times a week. At the facility, though, he paused long enough for the older man to take point once more. Losing his concentration would not end this mystery any sooner, nor the unease within him.

At the open door of the room Kakashi led him to, the Godaime and Naruto were already standing inside. The Hokage was leaning over a still form and did not look at them, but Naruto met them quickly.

"You found him. Good," the blond said by way of greeting. His face was set in a worried expression.

"What happened?" Sasuke asked flatly, his expression matching his tone as his eyes tried to see his wife.

"My team and I were on our way to Stone. I invited Sakura to travel with us until our paths diverged near Rain," Naruto explained in a strained voice. Sasuke turned and noticed for the first time the dried blood splattered across his skin. He was certain that it did not belong to him. "One of the kids dropped their passport so we had to back to get it. I felt Sakura's chakra flare, and we went to her…" His voice fell away as he shook his head, a familiar grimace taking residence on his face. "It was only supposed to be a _delivery_…" he said, and Sasuke thought about Sakura's mission. Naruto paused, not looking at either of his former teammates.

He shook his head briefly, subjected to his own thoughts, then continued in a stronger voice. "By the time we got to her, she was cornered by a Rain nin. There was more than one…" He looked up at Sasuke with a pointed expression. "Now there's none."

In the silence that followed, he scratched at the dried blood on his face absently, sending a few rust-red flakes to the floor. "She wouldn't wake up… Tsunade-baa-chan's working on her."

That much seemed to be true, the way the woman was bent over her apprentice, one hand resting against her forehead. Naruto stepped back into the room first; Sasuke and Kakashi following behind, and Sasuke ignored a surge of annoyance at the blond. It would only lead to anger, to violence, to all-out fighting. He would stay focused, maintain control.

It helped his resolve that Sakura chose that moment to moan her consciousness. He turned quickly to her, unconsciously standing taller when Kakashi and Naruto flanked either side of him supportively. He could not clearly see her face.

Tsunade began to test her, asking her to lift her arms, wiggle her fingers. Her motor function seemed fine, but testing her vision proved that her gaze was disoriented. Her eyes were focusing slowly, head turning side to side. She turned to Tsunade and stilled again, but Sasuke could see the tension in her body.

"What happened?" the Hokage asked carefully, her tone as brisk as he had ever heard it. Sakura did not take it well, flinching even as she watched the woman warily. Tsunade held Sasuke back as he tried to step forward, but at least he could see her face now.

She was too pale, certainly injured. There was a small bandage against her neck, and another at her forehead. The bedding hid whatever other injuries she had sustained, and he did not doubt there would be more. Sakura's main strengths lay in evasion. If someone had gotten close enough to do her damage, he knew that her monstrous strength would have done just as much to them. Knowing her strength, and seeing her injured in spite of it… He grimaced.

There was a thick pause as they waited for her answer. She turned her glance toward the window, fists clenching in the blanket beneath her arms. Sasuke waited and wondered if her story would match Naruto's account.

"Sakura," Tsunade began again, more cautiously, but no less intense. It worked to bring her apprentice's gaze back, but that was all. Silence again. Then suddenly the older woman asked, "Do you know who I am?" The question was like a hammer against glass. He could hear the rustle of hair against sheets as Sakura shift uncomfortably. The frown on her face spoke the answer that her silence hid.

"Do you know," the older woman began again and stepped to the side, "who your teammates are?" For the first time Sasuke could see her face, framed by familiar pink hair. She looked startled by the question. Then, her head turned to the three men waiting for her, and she paled further, her complexion nearly turning gray. Sasuke felt his companions tense, but he did not move. He could not show them how unnerving it was to see Sakura looking… fearful of them. Slowly, she nodded, looking back up to the woman who her silence disavowed.

Tsunade continued in a clinical tone, "We believe you were attacked by a high-level technique in the field while on a mission to Sand. We do not yet know the full effects of the jutsu that was used, and it will take a while to discover exactly what it was…" The Hokage glanced over her right shoulder and shot Naruto a chastising look. Before the blond could even look contrite, she continued to Sakura, "I am Tsunade… the Godaime Hokage and your mentor going on ten years now…" The last part was added almost as if a superfluous afterthought, but Sakura was hanging onto the information attentively.

"A jutsu?" she asked at last. The small voice sounded unlike her, like a watered down version of her.

"Yes," Tsunade answered. Her voice softened finally. "Shizune will be making rounds later to check on you." She continued to explain that they would keep Sakura overnight for observation. This was partially directed to Sasuke, who nodded dutifully before turning his attention back to the woman in bed. She was staring at the ceiling, still clutching the blankets for anchor. Her pallor had not improved.

He felt no better after hearing the conversation. He had not been looking for comfort, but had expected everything to be fine once Sakura woke. She was fine, at least physically, and she remembered Team 7, but she had forgotten who Tsunade, someone who had played a vital role in more than half of her life. He wondered how much she had suffered that was yet to be diagnosed, and moreover, when her memory would return.

"When will she be able to return home?" he found himself asking. It was the only question he trusted himself to voice. Kakashi glanced at him and Naruto shifted tellingly, but Sasuke did not remove his gaze from the blond woman. Her amber gaze flickered to the prodigy, holding it with what he thought might have been sympathy.

"We've healed what we can at this point. Naruto arrived before they could do serious damage," she explained. "The technique is probably not a long-lasting one… If we don't find anything else, she'll be able to go home tomorrow. After that all we can do is wait." Sasuke said nothing as the woman returned to speaking lowly to his wife. The subtle answer of whether or not her memory would return answered his question well enough. To say that waiting had never been his strong suit was a gross understatement.

"Be sure to take it easy," Tsunade was murmuring, releasing a gentle touch on Sakura's shoulder.

The rosette nodded, and her eyes followed the Hokage as she left the room. Her attention was focused until Naruto bounded forward. He dropped onto the bed like a stone, causing her to start in surprise. Sasuke watched the pair quietly even as he took a seat just beyond the bed, between it and the window. It was as unsettling for her to be classified as an invalid as it was telling that she did not snap at Naruto for his rambunctious behavior.

"Sakura," Kakashi's voice interrupted Naruto's greeting. Sasuke glanced at the man, then back to his wife. "Are you sure you're all right?" their team leader asked. Sasuke mentally thanked him. He was beginning to wonder if he was the only one who thought her actions slightly _off_. She had yet to even look at him beyond her initial recognition. Was she still upset about their not-argument?

"I'm fine," she answered readily, her tone even. There was no encouragement, no concern, just a carefully neutral tone. "I'm just tired," she added and Sasuke frowned. It sounded oddly like an excuse, and a weak one at that.

She rubbed a hand over her eyes, her forehead, before pulling at her hair in a self-comforting gesture. The pale digits stopped short, and her eyes widened again by half. "What happened to my hair?" she asked quietly, staring at Naruto. Sasuke thought her voice calm, but a quick, panicked breath stole from her lungs.

"Did the guy do something to it?" Naruto asked, matching her concern. Maybe the idiot was not quite so oblivious after all.

She sat up quickly, swaying even as she tugged at the ends. It was the most active she had been since he had arrived, and the quick, choppy motions conveyed more distress than her words had.

"It's so… short," she explained, and her quick breath became audible.

"Uh," Naruto began eloquently, confused and about to alarm her.

Sasuke cut in quickly, his voice calm, "It's the same length it's always been. Since you made Chuunin." Her green eyes glanced at Kakashi as he stood just beyond Naruto, waiting for dissent, but he only nodded. His single eye crinkled with encouragement.

Instead of being consoled, Sasuke watched as she curled forward, buring her fingers to their knuckles in white blanket. He leaned forward and saw panic in her eyes, shining clearly through the pink curtain of hair.

"It's okay," he said calmly, placing a hand on her shoulder. "It's just hair." Sakura nodded as soon as he spoke. It was just a jerk of her head. She said nothing.

This was not good at all. He was supposed to be the one who could always get through to her, calm her down when she was being irrational and build her up when she was frayed, but here she was not even looking at him. He frowned as he realized that his powerlessness was just that. She should not have taken the mission. Somehow, though he had not clearly worked out the details, he knew that this was his fault.

After a moment, he felt her shift before she turned her head to him. It was the first time she had looked at him, and it was a watery half-smile was on her face, tears highlighting her eyes brightly. He felt himself relax a fraction. The expression was nothing like he was used to, but it was an effort.

She had head trauma. That had to be it. It was normal for anyone to be under stress after such an event. Everything was going to be fine. _She_ was going to be fine.

"Hey, hey," Naruto interrupted, drawing the attention of both of his former teammates. "We should go out for ramen! My students totally have to pay, anyway, since Sakidou forgot his stupid passport." He grinned at her, then to Sasuke, as if the offer would make the entire situation better.

"Idiot," the sable-haired ninja chastised lowly. The word held none of its usual vinegar, kept calm for Sakura's sake. "They said they were keeping her overnight."

"It's just as well. Sakura needs to rest, anyway," Kakashi intervened, hoping to forestall an argument. Sasuke nodded to him in understanding. When the jinchuuriki did not move, the silver-haired jounin added, "Alone."

Naruto scoffed, but climbed to his feet. "I'm the hero today and I'm still getting kicked out? Maaaa…" He rolled his eyes, but quickly smiled down at Sakura. It was the encouraging smile he reserved for serious situations, levity gone. "Rest well, Sakura-chan. We'll go to Ichiraku when you're feeling better. How about tomorrow?"

She did not respond, though, and the smile fell. The two ninja made their way to the exit, determined to leave the couple in peace.

Sasuke remained in his seat and did not watch them go. His dark gaze remained on Sakura, who watched them with wide eyes.

"You don't have to say," she spoke timidly, her eyes still on the door, but he was the only one left. The words were for him. Sasuke saw Kakashi pause at the door before the man let himself out. It was left open, and he scowled at the lack of privacy afforded them.

"It's okay," he responded, lidding his annoyance.

She was going to be okay. He believed it fully. At the same time, anxiety wormed inside and ate at him. He was a decisive man, and once a course of action was known to him, it was easy to follow its path. His decisiveness was one of the defining traits of his life. As he stared at the kunoichi beneath his hand, he began to realize how strong he was going to need to be for them. For her.

"Really… you can go home," she offered again, still quiet. "You probably need to."

Sasuke frowned, and then asked in as neutral a voice as he could manage, "Do you _want_ me to leave?"

This was the point where she was supposed to be startled. She was supposed to reject his offer for solitude, to ask that he stay, to reaffirm her love for him. This was the moment everything went back to normal.

Sakura did nothing. She said nothing. She still refused to look at him. Why would she not look at him now when she had smiled at him moments before?

He took the cue, rising from his seat with silence befitting a shinobi of his caliber. At the door, he paused with his hand on the knob. Glancing back to her, he saw that she was still not looking at him. Her eyes were staring out the window, away from him.

"I'm sorry," he offered quietly. Then as if he needed to clarify, he added, "for hurting your feelings."

Sakura nodded quietly, still mute as far as he was concerned. He felt something unpleasant twist in him, and then left the room, closing the door behind him.

He was not used to confusion, especially when dealing with his wife. She was the open book in their relationship. It was accidental when he sometimes missed her emotional and verbal cues, but she was always quick to explain them to him- sometimes vehemently. It was not always pleasant, but it was one of the things he had come to rely on from her. This timidity was unknown and frustrating.

Sasuke found himself hoping that the jutsu would lose its effect quickly so that things could go back to the way they were supposed to be.

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><p>He knew the instated visiting hours of Konoha's hospital. Even had Sakura not worked there, he would have remembered from his own admittances and her frequent visits. Knowledge of the hours did not stop him from arriving a full hour before them. The sun was a watery pale thing hidden behind clouds and haze, just topping the horizon when he left home.<p>

When he made it to the hospital, he entered through the front doors. It would have been easier to climb through her window, but he had not forgotten Sakura's disposition from yesterday. It had been all he could think about- during training, eating, and the restless sleep that had ended his day.

His hope that the effects of the technique had worn off were paramount as he neared her room. The hope was his strongest defense against the nagging discomfort he had felt since first reuniting with her. He made himself enter her room without hesitation.

Sai was standing next to her empty bed, staring out of the window. Sasuke took a quick glance around. The bathroom door was fully open. It was as empty as the bed Sakura should have been resting in.

"Where is she?" he asked, wasting no time on pleasantries. Sai turned calmly, having already sensed his presence.

The smile given him was minimal as the pale elite answered, "She's gone." Sasuke frowned, but it was all he spoke.

Biting back a growl at the unhelpful answer, Sasuke turned on his heel and strode back into the hallway. The young woman sitting behind the nurse's desk looked tired, but smiled as he approached.

"Uchiha Sakura. My wife," he stated. "Did she check herself out this morning?"

"Sasuke-san," a voice from his left sounded before the attendant could answer. He turned to see Shizune emerging from the deeper maze of white-washed corridors. She smiled disarmingly at him and stated, more than asked, "You're here to see Sakura." He frowned, and questioned again.

"Is she being tested?" It was critically spoken, no longer trying to hide the scowl on his face. If Shizune was not worried, there had to be an answer for her absence. But at his question she turned a concerned, dark stare towards Sakura's room. She gave him another quick glance before striding to the open door purposefully. That was answer enough for him. She returned quickly, stopping him before he could flee.

"Wait," she called, reaching out to grab him before she stopped herself. She turned to the attendant as Sasuke paused. "Suzuki-san," she said calmly, "Please put out an all-hospital page for Sakura, code one-zero-five." Sasuke almost admired the control exuding from the young woman, given the fact that a patient and colleague was missing. He would have appreciated it more had the patient in question not been his wife.

While they waited, Sasuke bit into his thumb hard, a sharp pinch of his canines that drew blood. Shizune eyed him distastefully but said only, "Don't take liberties."

In response, he dropped into a crouch and pressed his hand against the tan flooring. Wordlessly, a puff of creamy smoke curled up and around his hand. When it dissipated, five small snakes were uncoiling themselves, some more awake than others. They were variations of green and black, mostly garden variety, messengers and spies all.

"Sakura's missing," he said flatly, unable to hide the frustration in his voice. The statement was enough to wake up the ones still blinking at him blearily. "There might be enemies after her," he announced as the thought came to him. Had the Rain nin come to finish the job they had started? What other damage could they hope to do? "Spread out through the village and find her. If you see her, don't approach. She might be easily startled." The five slithered away purposely as Sasuke stood once more. Turning to Shizune, he finally answered, "I'm not taking liberties. I'm finding my wife" She simply stared at him, and he could not tell if she was concerned, or angry. He found that he did not care either way.

Sai interrupted, regarding Sasuke with bland eyes as he spoke, "It's doubtful the Rain nin have pursued her to this point. The village barriers will keep out unwanted ninja."

Sasuke acknowledged his teammate with a scowl and replied, "I'm not taking chances either."

"We need to find her," Shizune interrupted purposefully before an argument could begin. Her eyes were serious as she pinned Sasuke, "I can't leave the hospital right now. I have so-"

"Sempai," the nurse interrupted, holding a phone to her ear. All three turned to regard the young woman. "The front security guard saw Uchiha-san leaving the grounds several minutes ago."

"How long?" she asked, and they waited as the question was conveyed.

"Half an hour ago," she replied.

Sasuke growled as a hand landed on his shoulder, impeding his immediate departure. Sai was standing behind him and quickly removed the offending hand as he stopped.

"You'll find her faster if you work together," Shizune announced. Sai nodded in agreement, still regarding the perturbed Uchiha. Sasuke's eyes flicked between the two dark-haired and dark-eyed nin.

Shizune's concern was a tightly guarded thing. She had more pressing concerns to attend to at the hospital, but it did not stop her caring for her colleague, her friend. Sai's face was less telling. He was not the bland, blank canvas he had been when they had first met, but his face was still well-guarded when he wanted it to be. If he felt any concern for Sakura, it did not register on his face- or maybe the tight control was his way of showing he cared.

Sasuke nodded at the suggestion, not breaking the silence, and the two departed. They separated at the front gate, and Sasuke immediately headed deeper into the city. There was no guarantee that she was operating free of coercion, but Sai's reminder had merit. The likelihood of enemy ninja breaking into the village and making it as far as the hospital without detection was slim. He began to run.

She was not with Naruto. He was confident that if Sakura had gone to Naruto's, their friend would have contacted him. The blond knew Sakura's state, even if he did not grasp the severity of her situation. He knew that she was not at home, because if she had left thirty minutes before his arrival, they would have definitely crossed paths. He had neither seen nor sensed her in their home district. That left one obvious choice.

Ino's apartment was near the shopping district, close to her parent's flower shop. Sasuke briefly wondered why Kiba had agreed to such a problematic arrangement before reminding himself that it was information beneath his radar.

The young woman was in her room, wearing skimpy pajamas, but standing alone before her vanity. She looked like she had just woken. Sasuke wasted no time in dropping down to her small balcony and rapping against the door. To her credit, she did not startle, but looked surprised to see him just the same.

"Is Sakura with you?" he asked after she had opened the door, fearing he would already know the answer. He could not sense his wife's presence anywhere nearby.

"No," Ino answered, alarm on her face. "I haven't seen her since before you got back from your mission. Is something wrong?" She grimaced, shooting a wary eye at him. "Did you guys have a fight?"

Sasuke resisted the urge to roll his eyes at her nosiness, but his frown was practically standard anyway, "Sakura took a mission and got injured. She was supposed to stay in the hospital overnight, but she was missing when I got there this morning. Sai and I are looking for her."

"I'll help," the blond responded without hesitation. She was pulling a t-shirt on when Sasuke nodded at her, his frown breaking. Her readiness to act, and her obvious concern... He was glad again for the friendship his wife maintained with the woman.

"It would be most helpful if you could let Naruto know what's happening. We might need his help," Sasuke said as he jumped up to the thin railing. Kiba chose that moment to emerge from the bathroom. Sasuke gave his contemporary a nod before he finished, "She's not at the hospital and not at home. That's what we have to go on for now." With that he leapt from the balcony up to the adjacent apartment rooftop.

Ino was fast. She could get to Naruto and explain the situation in a way to alert the aspiring-Hokage without allowing him to panic. If Kiba could help in the search, too- well, Sasuke was not above owing someone a favor for taking care of his family.

He was nearing the Hokage's Tower when he felt a cool, scaly length wrap around his ankle tightly. Looking down, he saw the green garter snake from his summons staring up at him with intent black eyes.

"We found her," the snake spoke, tongue darting out between words.

"Take me," he commanded as he transferred the small creature to coil around his wrist. They left the shopping district entirely, moving closer to the Tower he had been aiming for. For a moment he thought they were going to find her there, sitting and speaking with the Hokage. Maybe the Godaime had appropriated her without warning to run more tests, to find out the root of the jutsu. He could forgive that, but he was going to be angry just the same.

Yet, as they bounded down in front of the administration building, the snake abruptly shifted its head right. Sasuke turned and found himself staring at the Academy training building. It was too early for anyone to be inside. There was no one she could have come to see, and the idea that she would have come here at all perplexed him. Frustration and confusion rolled through his mind as he followed his summon's guidance.

They stopped in the training ground. Playground would have been a more apt description for the place. A few tall trees dotted the open area, each large enough to shade the entire space. Sakura was sitting on a single tree swing, staring at the ground.

He moved forward, dropping the snake to the ground it preferred to travel on. He dismissed it and the others wordlessly as he stepped past the jungle gym coming to stand even with another tree. Sai was just the other side of the trunk, staring at the young woman.

He turned knowing black eyes on Sasuke as he asked, "So you've found her then, have you?" Then he turned back to the kunoichi slowly, unconcerned and silent. He made no move to approach his friend.

Understanding connected in Sasuke's brain.

"Why didn't you tell me?" he asked threateningly, his fist unconsciously tightening where Kusanagi's handle should have been.

"She asked me not to," Sai answered simply. He stared at Sakura for a moment more before his peripheral vision turned to look at the young man who could have been his brother.

The world sharpened and focused with familiar intensity. Sasuke could not see chakra points, but he still would have been able to kill Sai before the young man could defend himself, especially without his paintbrush or tanto. Sai smiled at the appearance of the twin sharingan, the fake smile that might have been disarming for others. It only filled Sasuke with more anger.

"Those eyes won't be necessary," the painted remarked as he turned back to their teammate. "Sakura seemed to be under duress at the hospital. As a friend, I wanted to do what I could to help her." Sasuke scowled, red eyes darkening back to black.

Sai's explanation was honest, he knew, but it did nothing to appease his anger. Jail-breaking was less elementary than lessons in which nicknames to use and which to refrain from. Really, he could not bring himself to care.

There had never been a love loss between the two elite ninja. After his reinstatement in Konoha, Sai had continued hanging around Team 7 in their downtime. He took fewer missions with them, mostly filling in for Kakashi's absences. Only when Naruto had decided to take a genin team did Tsunade seemed to think that the most natural, permanent replacement for their team be the former Root member.

Sai had more than proved himself as a capable ninja, but their dynamic was skewed. Sakura was the only one who had taken missions with Kakashi, Sai, and Sasuke each. Neither was it lost on him that due to his time seeking revenge, she had effectively spent as much time being Sai's teammate as she had his. She had a bond with another man that he had no part in.

Ignoring the part of him that wanted to chastise Sai for the philosophical reasons why one should not allow a hospital patient to flee, even a friend, Sasuke continued walking. He had never allowed himself to fall into the role of one of Sai's educators. These days, the young man seemed to have his mind mostly made up, anyway. Giving one last disapproving glare at his teammate, Sasuke stalked toward the lone tree swing.

The playground was silent, waiting to be filled with hyper genin and frustrated instructors. He had yet to bridge the distance between them when she lifted her head and turned to look at him, pinning him with an intense green gaze. He stopped completely, hands at his sides as she held him at bay with the power of her eyes.

Her expression- he had seen it before. He had seen the way crinkled eyebrows tried to swallow the eyes beneath them, wide and round and alert. It was a face he had seen in his own mind, seventy-two hours at a time. In his memory, it was carried by a traumatized seven-year-old running through streets that should have been warm and full and safe. It was potent and tangible, condensed and concentrated into two barely subdued points. Her body was too relaxed, and her mouth gave nothing away. Only her eyes, but her eyes spoke everything.

She was terrified of him.

Anxiety twisted in him afresh as he stepped toward her, one hand extended in a calm greeting. It was meant to soothe.

"Please, don't be angry," she whispered. "Please," she said, her head lolling forward submissively.

"Why would I be angry?" he asked, though the answer was already obvious. She knew she had worried him, running away from the hospital. That was a question he could ask later. For now, he would exercise patience. For her sake, he would wait on her.

"Because-" she stuttered, "because of my hair." He started. She looked up at him with the same betrayed, scared expression from before. Her voice continued in a thin whisper, "Because Naruto and Kakashi are involved."

"They're your teammates," he answered, not glancing at Sai. "Of course they'd be concerned about you." He was close enough now to touch her, and he reached out for her shoulder. Touch comforted her. She was the one who usually initiated it, whether he wanted her to or not, but he never complained. Never, except for the night before her mission.

She flinched before the fingers touched her. Sasuke paused, then dropped his hand altogether. He was confused, and if she had asked he might have admitted to being a little hurt. Maybe, but he knew better than most about personal boundaries. He knew when to respect them, when he was not wanted.

"Are you all right, Hag?" came a completely unnecessary interjection.

"I'm fine," she responded calmly, evenly, the panic receding back to its hiding place. Not gone, just tightly lidded. Sasuke grimaced at the ruse. Yesterday he had thought her control to be a sign of wellness; he had believed it. Today, he knew better. Sakura did not look at Sai at all.

"We should go home," he said calmly. There was much he did not understand, but if they could go home and talk about it in privacy, he could wait. He could be patient for her sake. "We need to talk," he added, as if it she did not already know. Maybe she didn't.

Sakura nodded, unspeaking. She lifted herself from the swing with a poise that normally did not accompany her movements. It was graceful and beautiful, but lacked her natural bounce and enthusiasm. Her face alighted on his again, and she was smiling. It looked like heartbreak.

They left Sai without good-byes, leaving the young man to do what he would about the situation. On the way home, he noted her movements and speed. She moved without injury and without complaint. Her body really was well and whole. Whatever was ailing her was in the mind, he realized, and he had very little idea of how to fix it. This was something that, under different circumstances, he would have asked Sakura herself about. He would still ask her, but he would have to proceed cautiously, slowly.

"Be patient," he reminded himself silently. "It's only been a day." Definitely not his strong suit.

He deposited his sandals in the genkan with a leisurely pace. Sakura moved more quickly, tucking her boots awkwardly into the shoe closet. Then she left, heading directly to their bedroom, not speaking a word to him.

He frowned, wondering at her avoidance, when he realized that was exactly what she had been doing. Yesterday, she had all but asked him to leave the hospital, and this morning she had fled before he could see her again. At the Academy she had not run away- had that been because of Sai's presence? Either way, it was not something he was going to accommodate for very long. Patience with her predicament did not equate to avoiding the issues they had.

After he put his own shoes away, he followed after her, determined to talk through this. The irony was not lost on him. He was even less vocal than most men, while Sakura was probably average as far as women went. That he had to be the one to initiate communication could probably be classified under karma, if had believed in it.

The sight that met him when he entered the bedroom froze him the same way that Sakura's gaze had at the Academy. She was not looking at him but stared at the ceiling with a passive apathy.

Her body was completely naked, arms stretched out to either side of her, legs parted. It was not a restful pose, and neither was it subtle. There was nothing seductive about the way she laid on the bed. There was no longing, no affection. She was not even looking at him. She was merely… there. Nausea roiled in his gut as he understood what she meant.

"What are you doing?" he asked anyway, and could not hide the unease in his voice. To his ears the words sounded strangled. After a tense moment, Sakura rolled forward to her elbows, looking at him with a neutral expression.

"Is that a trick question?" she asked carefully.

Again, Sasuke pushed away his frustration, reining it before it could become anger. Was she laying there so he could- did she think he wanted to…? The words would not even take solid form in his mind. "_Please_," he said tightly. "Explain yourself."

Doubt flickered in her eyes, and he grabbed onto it like his own lifeline. She did not want this anymore than he did. The sight was disorienting. When had he ever acted in such a way to make her think he could want something like… that?

Spinning on his heel, he gruffly said, "Put on some clothes," before departing the room.

His head felt light, his body too, as if the connections between them were too loose. The technique. That fucking Rain nin had done something to her. It had done more than make her hair grow and erase Tsunade from her memory. It had taken all of the good things in her and pushed them far aside, shoved them deep down where he- where _she_, could no longer see them. Then it had pulled up all of her fears and insecurities and twisted them into things he could not even recognize.

As a child, Sakura had been shy at times, but rarely timid. He had only seen terror on her face in the Forest of Death when Orochimaru had attacked them both. They had both thought they would die. Even in Iron Country when they had battled against one another, when he had nearly killed her, her expression had been stalwart and fierce. After returning, he had seen the woman she had become, leaving unnecessary vanity behind for security in knowing who she was. This fear and withdrawal was something else entirely.

"Something else entirely," he thought again, slowly. He turned back to the bedroom and slipped inside. She was sitting on the bed, no longer prone, but still quite naked. Under different circumstances, she would have been appealing. The sharingan appeared at his will, staring at the young woman on the bed.

She was not channeling chakra. The only lines he could see were the faint yellow that flowed around any people with developed coils. Beyond her natural flow, though, there was nothing to see; no criss-crossing veins of energy, no tell-tale signs of genjutsu. An illusion strong enough to twist her personality would have been easily detected, but there was nothing. Her body twisted as she finally realized he was in the room again.

Sasuke's dark eyes returned and saw the confusion and doubt in her expression again. There fear was still there, but relaxed. He sighed as the doorbell rang.

Casting a glance toward the front of the house, Sasuke quickly gathered her discarded clothes before dropping them into her lap. "Get dressed," he commanded calmly, and made his way to the door without waiting to see her comply. There were few times he could admit that he would rather her clothes be on than off, but this was definitely one of them.

The woman in his room… She was not his wife. She wore his wife's face and spoke with her voice, but the essence was completely wrong.

Naruto and Ino were at the door, and he was glad that Kiba had not followed after all. It was bad enough for other people to see her in this state. He did not think it needed advertising. Sasuke ushered them in quickly and did not even chastise Ino as she kicked her shoes off and darted inside. In the past it had bothered him that she knew her way around his house so well, but now he was only grateful. Maybe she could get to Sakura in a way he could not.

Naruto paused and said, "We ran into Sai. Or, he ran into us. He said she ran out of the hospital this morning?" The concern in Naruto's eyes was unmasked and nearly palpable. Sasuke only nodded, but grabbed his friend's arm to hold him back before they could follow Ino.

"There's trouble," he said quietly, eyes flitting to the back of the house.

"Besides the shit memory?" the blond clarified, the alarm in his face growing. For a moment Sasuke sighed, wishing him to control his feelings better. Seeing what he felt being displayed on Naruto's face only heightened his own pain, but asking Naruto to control his feelings was like asking the sun to rise in the west. He would not have been Naruto.

"Sort of," he answered with a grimace, and then quickly realized it was not a complete answer. He explained the best he could, highlighting her distance with him yesterday and the way she had run away from the hospital; the terror she had expressed when they had met at the Academy. He did not confide what had happened in the bedroom. Even he did not want to confront that again. Naruto listened patiently throughout, not overrunning with questions and commentary. He allowed Sasuke to tell everything, allowed his concern to speak for itself. "This is not right," the young husband finished. "This is completely unlike her."

"You're right," Naruto agreed, looking away thoughtfully. He took a deep breath and then stared at Sasuke with unusual gravity. "We had a talk out in the woods," he spoke after a moment. Sasuke stared, silently urging him on. "We were traveling for a little while together. When all of us stopped for the night she told me about the fight-"

"It wasn't a fight," Sasuke interjected somewhat sullenly. It was a misunderstanding, but they hadn't even argued. It could not be labeled a fight. Besides, it was not Naruto's business to know, either. He sighed. There was no taking back the knowing now.

Naruto rolled his eyes and continued in a strong voice, "In the woods, she wasn't like she was in the hospital yesterday. I mean, she was a little sad, but only because she wanted to make up after your _not_-fight." Sasuke clenched his jaw, and nodded at the new information.

He readied to explain his theory that the jutsu was the underlying cause of it all when an angry shout from the bedroom interrupted. It was Sakura's voice. Sasuke led the charge back to their room with Naruto hot on his heels. They found the two young women staring at one another heatedly. Ino's back was to him, and Sakura's face looked more charged than he had seen it since her return.

"Get. Out," she growled at her blonde friend. Sasuke was glad to see her clothed again, but she was still not herself. Her face was contorted into something mean and angry, staring at Ino with fire in her eyes.

The blond kunoichi held her ground, literally, digging the balls of her feet into the hardwood floor as she said, "You're going to need a better excuse than 'because' if you want me to go."

"Maybe _because_," Sakura began acerbically, "acting stupid is even worse than you whoring around." Ino froze, her shoulders going rigid at the verbal assault. Sakura shouted again, "Now get _out_ of my house!"

Sasuke looked between the two women with wary eyes, anxious to intervene but knowing that somehow it would be the least welcome course of action. Ino's neck was flushed with embarrassment, and perhaps anger. Sakura's face, in contrast, was pale and controlled, the mask he was beginning to resent. Her fists were clenched at her sides, but she did not move. She merely stared at Ino.

He knew the accusation was false even without having to see Ino's face, but why would his wife lie about it? What did she suddenly have against her best friend?

"You've got a lot of explaining to do, Forehead Girl," Ino said quietly. Everyone present knew that it was an effort of will to keep her temper from flaring, to remain calm. "If you think you're going to push me away by saying awful, _untrue_ things, you've got another thing coming. I'm not going anywhere until you tell me what's going on." Her arms crossed over her chest and she waited. Sasuke imagined her expression to match Sakura's well.

His wife tensed again, her face hardened. Sasuke was sure she was going to channel chakra and hit the bold girl, when just as suddenly her expression crumbled. Her hands relaxed, and her shoulders began to heave silently. He stepped forward when Naruto held out a hand to bar him.

It was Ino who bridged the space as Sakura began spluttering, "Ino-p-pig!" And it was Ino who embraced her friend as Sakura began to cry in earnest. She was the one Sakura let get close to her. Sasuke she had held at bay, but Ino she let in.

He was beginning to have a dark idea of what this meant, and the thought sickened him.

As his wife continued to cry and hiccup against the shoulder of her friend, Sasuke sighed.

"You should go," he said clearly. It was not loud, only loud enough to be heard. Naruto started at his side, then sagged. Ino, too, looked confused at the command.

"I'm not leaving!" she refused, her grip on Sakura tightening ever so slightly, but Sasuke only shook his head.

"I mean Sakura," he clarified. The words silenced her hiccupping as she gathered her breath. She lifted her eyes slightly from Ino's protective hold, chancing to meet his gaze solemnly, and- there it was. The fear was still there. "Sakura, _you_ should go."

"Sasuke…" Naruto murmured calmly, eyes moving between his two best friends and former teammates.

"Stay as long as you need," Sasuke continued, holding her alarmed green gaze. The crying stopped completely. He was aware of Ino and Naruto both staring at them. "Stay until we've worked through whatever this-" and he gestured helplessly to the air, "is."

This was all he could do, he wanted to tell her, but she would only pull away. If she was terrified to be near him or for him to draw near to her, the only solution was to separate. He frowned, feeling a tide of disappointment at the situation, at himself, even at Sakura. Suddenly it felt like his life was falling apart, and he was powerless to stop it. Without another word, he turned and strode from the room.

* * *

><p>AN: So I gotta say, I reaaaaaally like this chapter. I like Sai, I like Ino, I like crazy Sakura, and I really like Sasuke. I'm hoping I kept him in character. I'd like to think the Sasuke that looks after his family is always thinking about them, even if he doesn't verbalize it, and maybe he's grown up a little bit from being a selfish fifteen year old. At fifteen, we don't really realize how selfish we are, anyway.<p> 


	5. You

It was a few days later at lunch that things began to seem less surreal and more disconcerting. She had originally thought that Kakashi's words about Tsunade were part of a mean joke. He had proven himself capable of stringent teasing in the past, words that sometimes hit a little too close for home. At the time, she wondered if he had not been poking fun at her head injury, checking to see if she had really been as hurt as they thought.

That had been until she had dismissed him and immediately gone to look for her master and colleague. She had been unable to find either of them.

The hospital had been suspiciously quiet, and while she had not outright asked the staff about either of the women (why make people more concerned about the state of her injuries?) small evidences of their presence had been conspicuously missing. The hand-written notes from Shizune littering nurses desks to update procedures and for not-so-gentle reminders were invisible. Tsunade's hidden stash of sake in the fourth floor supply closet was completely gone. That more than anything had alarmed her.

After, when she had gone to the Hokage's Tower, it had been completely closed to her, not that it was closed to everyone, but she had been denied admittance. Kotetsu and Izumo were not at the front doors, either, but just as absent as the two women she had been searching for. Instead, two Anbu members had set up sentry. While they had not been outright rude to her, they had been very clear that she would not be entering without proof of invitation.

At that point she had headed home, thoroughly bemused and nonplused. She did not think herself worthy of the time and effort of so many people to ensure a massive prank.

Tsunade and Shizune. They were gone.

"I feel like I woke up in wonderland," she admitted to the man across from her before biting into her fried pumpkin.

Her mentors had disappeared overnight without so much of a word to anyone? No. Tsunade was a lot of things, but a flake was not one of them. Not once since Sakura had met her had she ever shown anything but complete devotion to Konoha, and Shizune went where Tsunade went.

Then there was the question of her teammates. She had not even seen Sai or Yamato since the accident. It was not surprising for them to be absent upon waking, but to not see them at all in the days following? It was a completely reasonable possibility for them to have missions keeping them away from the village, but she could not shake the idea that something more was going on. Naruto and Kakashi had not been _abnormal_, but definitely exercising parts of their personalities she rarely saw. Kakashi had been downright attentive since she had woken, and Naruto… Naruto had been fiercely aware and serious at that moment she woke in the hospital, then he had disappeared. She had not seen him since.

It was Sasuke who was strangest of all, the most comforting while simultaneously alarming. Starting the first night after Kakashi's bombshell, though Sasuke knew none of their conversation, and every night since her husband had made love to her. He consistently complimented her cooking. He spoke to her without being prodded and prompted and poked, most times initiating conversation. He held her at night while they slept, rather while he slept and she wondered what had happened to turn Konoha on its head.

Sasuke's affection was comforting. They were desperately wanted, soothing. The fact that it was Sasuke giving them, and giving them so freely, only made the entire situation so much stranger. His attention had gone above and beyond necessity, even obligation, and while she loved it, craved it, it was doing nothing to settle the mystery in the rest of her friends. By now he should have gone back to being slightly aloof, making her work for his touch, his words. She was not used to not having to struggle for him.

Maybe 'wonderland' was a bit of an exaggeration on her part, but Kakashi did not balk at the word.

Instead, he asked, "So what are the differences?"

The question was mildly surprising. Entertaining concerns was not outrageous under normal circumstances, but she had yet to fully diagnose how bad things were. Something was wrong, that much was sure, but how much, and which parts? For Kakashi to validate her concerns with such an open question made her slightly anxious. Then again, he had years of experience on her looking underneath the underneath.

"Well," Sakura began, putting her concerns aside long enough to answer his question. "There are good things," she spoke quickly, watching his eyes. His lazy stare was in full effect. "Like, Sasuke is being really sweet…" She smiled at the thought of his attention the past few days. "And Naruto seems a little calmer." Though, the more she thought about his "calm" the less she was convinced it was good. "And you," she continued, still watching his eyes, feeling slightly embarrassed. "You seem to be around a bit more."

His expression gave nothing away, though his mouth lifted beneath his mask in what could have been a smile. A smile with no eyes did nothing to comfort her, and she pressed on. "Then there's Tsunade and Shizune. If they're not here, where are they? And why didn't Ino come see me in the hospital? Or Sai or Yamato?" She sighed and dropped her hand into her forehead briefly, poking at her food with her free hand.

Ino's absence she had felt just as keenly as Tsunade's, though for different reasons. The young kunoichi was her best friend, and they had never dropped a change to rag one another when one of them ended up on the hospital. They never missed opportunities to put together ridiculously large flower arrangements and one up each other for injuries or poorly executed defenses. That Ino would have not come to the hospital or even to her house afterwards… She could not fathom it, and the pain brought on by it made her cling to her husband all the more.

She looked back to Kakashi, frowning as she said, "Those are the really important things, but I also noticed my body tires out more easily." She sighed, poking through the tempura some more. "It's like my chakra's just… _gone_," the kunoichi said, waving her fingers for effect.

He gave a thoughtful, "Hmmm," and when she looked up she saw all of his food had vanished. He was dabbing a napkin at his mouth on top of the mask. Sakura quirked an eyebrow at him and laughed. At least some things were still the same.

"Maybe these incidents are not so small, after all," he said at length.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, what happened before you woke up in the hospital?"

She sighed and began recounting the mission with some exasperation, but quickly realized it was the first time she had done so in its entirety. No one else had asked about it, and she had yet to be summoned before Tsunade to debrief. That seemed unlikely to happen at all now.

"I was on a mission, delivering a package from the Hokage to Sand- to the Kazekage." She stopped abruptly and asked, "Gaara is still the Kage, right?"

"He is," Kakashi answered, "but you've never been on close enough terms with the Hokage to act as a personal messenger." Her heavy frown, brought on by that ridiculous statement did not seem to throw him. She wanted to ask who exactly the Hokage was if not Tsunade, if not Kakashi himself, but her teacher continued speaking. "All of these things you've mentioned… you yourself, have been different since you were admitted to the hospital."

"How different?" she asked, thoughts of the Hokage interrupted.

"Happier." It was a quiet admission, and for the first time, his eye slipped away from hers.

She hesitated only a moment before she added, "I've felt happier… I think a lot of it has to do with Sasuke."

"That _is_ surprising."

"Yeah, I know. Any kind of open affection from him is a little weird, but for him to be so consistent… I, uh," she gave an embarrassed chuckle, "I even thought it might have been genjutsu, but it wasn't."

His silence was heavy and telling. Sakura looked up at him, feeling the weight of her own words reflecting back on her. "It _is_ weird." All comfort fled at the admission, and she felt more alert and anxious than she had when the Rain nin's one-handed seal had been pressed tightly against her forehead.

Kakashi's eyes found hers again and held her gaze. She did not look away as she asked, "Something's all wrong about this, isn't it?"

"Perhaps. Perhaps you're seeing underneath the underneath."

What could she say to that? It was as good as confirming her concerns. Did Kakashi know something she didn't?

She stared at him hard for a moment, but before she could even think of something to say, her own name was called from the street.

Sakura turned and saw through the open shutters her husband standing a few meters away. Garbed in the usual jounin flack jacket and sweater, his expression was passive and guarded. This was a Sasuke with whom she was infinitely familiar. It did not stop her heart from swelling at the sight of him. Her concerns about everything were growing larger by the moment, and at his appearance they receded into appeased warmth.

She planted a foot in her chair and leaped through the window without warning, nearly clearing the distance between them in one hop. At his side, she embraced him quickly, need overshadowing the rest.

"Kakashi," Sasuke greeted over her head, his tone cool. He was nearly ignoring the arms around him.

"Hey," Sakura warned, giving him a sharp poke in the ribs, as if to say, 'pay attention to me.' Her husband gasped at the strength of the poke and shot her an annoyed glance. She grinned, feeling more of her concerns evaporate. Annoyed was normal.

This was the Sasuke she knew how to deal with. As much as she loved his new freedom to express his love, she had no idea how to properly react to it. All she could do was be herself.

Instead of huffing at her, he slipped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her away from the café, from Kakashi.

"Uhh," she intoned, glancing over her shoulder. She could no longer see their teacher, the angle of the window all wrong. "Thanks for lunch, sensei!" she called as they pulled away. Sasuke's hand on her shoulder tightened.

"How's work going?" she asked, determined not to let her concern get the best of her. "Do you have time for a snack?"

"You shouldn't eat two meals so close together," he said through a smirk. "You'll get fat."

"Rude!" she retorted, giving another poke that he blocked with his free hand. He laughed as his arm pulled her closer to his side. Well, maybe it was not such a rude thing to say, especially since she was obviously in no danger of getting fat. Either way, she was too busy enjoying the sound of his laughter to chastise him further.

The presence of another body in the street, purposefully close to theirs, cut their play short. Sakura glanced left, where just beyond Sasuke stood a familiar pale figure. Sasuke's arm dropped as she blinked at Sai.

"Danzou-sama's waiting for you," the former Root member announced flatly, and for a moment Sakura was too surprised to notice his expression. Later, she would remember that the expression he gave Sasuke was with the same dead eyes she remembered from their first days together.

"I'll be there shortly," Sasuke replied, to which Sai nodded and disappeared in a vertical whirl of black ink

"Danzou's alive?" she wondered calmly, afraid to voice the question. One more surprise to the rest. A hollow feeling was growing inside of her as Sasuke continued guiding them to the heart of the city. Danzou was alive, and he was asking for Sasuke. Discomfort returned, and this time it demanded a vent.

She settled on saying, "He didn't even say hi." Sai had not so much as looked at her, much less shared words. It was completely unlike him to not even throw a barb her way.

"I didn't know you knew Kara," Sasuke said, uninterested. Sakura tamped down on her surprise, not certain how good of a job she was doing.

"I- I don't," she answered honestly. She knew _Sai_, the artist, the former Root member who had overcome all that had been done to him in the past to embrace emotions and friendship and _life_. She did not know Kara. "Empty".

"Well don't be stupid then," Sasuke replied. She frowned up at him as he chuckled. The fat comment she could disregard, but this time the jibe did not feel like teasing. "Kara only will only speak to someone like him."

Sakura looked up at her husband with consternation. What was that supposed to mean, "like" him? Was Sasuke in Anbu, in Root? No. That was out of the question. He would never do something like that without asking her. Besides, the Root guys were all emotionless assholes, and he'd proven himself far too emotional the past few days. What did he mean, then?

At the Hokage Tower, they entered without a word, without the proof that had been demanded of her the previous time. Even with the traditional masks in place, the long, auburn ponytail and short black hair of the two Anbu guards gave away their identities. Fu and Torune. She had only learned of them posthumously, several months after the Fourth War, when manifests were being drawn up and the dead tallied, but they had bee- were Danzou's guards, for sure.

She had seen the dead brought back to life, some kind of unpleasant half-life, and this was not it. Even with their masks, she could sense none of the decay of death around them.

Dread returned full force and did not diminish as she and Sasuke rose through the building. There were plenty of other telling features. More accurately, features she had come to recognize as signs of Tsunade's presence were missing. Just like at the hospital.

In the main office, it was not Tsunade who was seated behind the Hokage's massive desk. She knew before they had entered who she would see, but there was no satisfaction in seeing Danzou seated comfortably at the window. She felt a lurch as the hollowness inside of her turned into mild nausea in her stomach. He smiled at them. At Sasuke.

"Sasuke," he greeted, and the tone was almost warm. Warm for Danzou, anyway.

They spoke in easy, open tones about Sasuke's mission from the day before, details shared unfettered. Neither was worried in the least about Sakura's presence. It was a casual debriefing, but Sakura heard little of what was said. Danzou was alive. Tsunade was gone.

"…some time off soon," Sasuke was saying as Sakura's head turned slightly in his direction. Danzou shifted as well, and she glanced at the man in time to see a smirk on his face.

"It will be arranged," the old man- the Hokage, spoke easily. His hand extended, showing a scroll that Sasuke took without hesitation. Even without a summation of the new mission, he did not bother to open it. Such was the trust between them. Sakura was not entirely sure of what was happening. Her head was light and foggy, stuffed with too many incredible details to handle at once.

Only once they were outside on the street once more, did she realize that Sasuke had a tight hand on her elbow. She pulled away from him, awareness returning as she glanced at her husband.

"Wha- How…" She took a deep breath, trying to control her mounting nausea and then stopped entirely, her eyes fixed on her husband. When he turned to her, she was sure he could see every ounce of concern and worry in her face, but his regard was only cursory. There was no compassion in his stare. It was so at odds with his behavior, and just added another measure of tension to her. She pressed on, though, and asked, "Why are you on such good terms with _him_?"

"If by _him_, you mean _Danzou-sama_," Sasuke spoke pointedly. "I guess it has something to do with him being like a father to me for over a decade. Somewhere along the way being mentored and taught by him might have given us a bond." The words were spoken flippantly and sarcastically. She should have known them, she understood, but the facts muted the sarcasm overlaying them.

Everything was wrong.

"What about Itachi?" she asked quickly. Sasuke snorted in front of her, but could not hide the sudden tension in his shoulders as he continued leading them back to the house. His stride did not slow. "After everything…" she murmured, her words faltering.

Danzou had been the one to order Itachi into the life that had caused Sasuke such anguish over the years. Itachi had been redeemed once more to his idol-like status in Sasuke's eyes for being able to give up so much for his little brother. Her understanding of that history had come from Sasuke in bits and pieces over the years, as if he himself could not speak of it in its entirety. She had put the pieces together on her own.

They turned a familiar corner and pain flared in her face as Sasuke's hand dropped. Her fingers clutched at her nose and cheek reflexively, feeling warm and sticky wetness coating the divides between her digits, her pale palm. Her eyes were watering, but when she glanced up at him, his face was hard, unsympathetic. He shook the sting from his hand lightly, easily.

She was staring at her hand, covered in dark red when he spoke lowly, "You're not going to mention that traitor's name again." Not a request. A command. "Never again."

It was a hard slap, but not the full strength she knew he could possess. Just a warning. A reprimand. She was hurt, well beyond the injuries in her face, and more confused than she had ever been before, but he did not give her time to recover.

He stepped forward and grabbed her soiled hand tightly. She flinched away, still watching his face as he smirked. Then he leaned down and kissed her. Her mouth was aching, and the light press hurt. When he pulled away his lips were painted dark red. He wiped his mouth with the back of his dark sleeve and stepped away.

"I've got another mission," he said, holding up the scroll Danzou had handed him. "You behave," he added, and then he disappeared.

The leaves illustrating his departure were still settling as she slumped to the ground, her free hand looking for support. Blood was still sludging from her nose, trailing around her mouth, and she swallowed roughly, tasting copper and despair.

Strangely, it was Kakashi's words that were the first clear things in the haze that clouded her mind. Underneath the underneath. She knew the sentiment was important, but her mind was too foggy, trying to understand everything that had happened- what had _just_ happened.

The violation hurt more than her nose or mouth. He had hit her, and more than just hitting her, he had been so callous about it. Then he had taunted her with a kiss. As she looked down to her knees, she was vaguely aware of pink droplets splashing into her lap.

Green eyes crinkled in pain tinged with anger. The bastard had hit her because her defenses had been low. If they had been higher, she would have sensed the attack. "And why should they have been?" she thought desperately. "I shouldn't have to protect myself from my husband." Sasuke. Sasuke had hit her. There was no mistaking it, no hiding it.

He owed her an apology. A damned _huge_ apology. Yet somehow… Somehow she knew it would not come, not when he had hurt her so readily, so unrepentantly. She grimaced with pained understanding.

Memories surfaced of apologies in the hospital, of aggressive and passionate love-making- no. Sex. Making love happened when both parties loved each other, and you could only love someone you respected.

He had apologized in the hospital. At home in bed.

Tears fell faster, and she dabbed at them with her dirty fingers before giving up completely, horribly sad, and terribly angry.

It was in a red haze of anger and blood that she climbed to her feet. Her dirty hands flexed into tight coils before relaxing and hovering over her nose. Chakra eased the pain almost immediately, and almost as soon as she had begun healing, the blood flow stopped. Her nose was broken, but she would not be able to set it properly without a mirror.

With an agile leap, she jumped to the rooftops and was moving before she knew where she was going. Anger was overpowering her sadness. He'd hit her. Her husband had hit her. Not in battle or sparring, either of which she could have forgiven, or even expected in the case of the latter. He'd hit her as a punishment. For what? For speaking out of turn?

She was halfway to Naruto's apartment before she stopped short, nearly lost in her thoughts, but not so distracted to wonder what Naruto's reaction would be. If she went to him for comfort, for commiseration, what would he do?

"He'd explode," she thought rationally. "Well, maybe not explode, but it would certainly be a strong reaction," she thought. She hoped, anyway. His reaction at the hospital and his absence since then made her doubt.

A few minutes later she found herself standing in front of the Yamanaka flower shop. Ino would understand. Well, maybe not. Sakura herself did not understand everything that was happening, not most of what was happening, but she thought Ino might take it better than Naruto.

Sakura could see Ino and her equally lovely mother standing inside, working over a traditional ikebana. She pushed the door open, the blood on her face and hands forgotten in her haste. The bell rang over her head and as one the two ladies turned to regard her.

Both reacted with vindicating horror on their faces, and she quickly remembered the blood she had yet to clean off. Where Mrs. Yamanaka's expression remained firm on her face, though, Ino's eyes quickly shuttered and the concern slid into apathy, cool indifference. She paused for a moment, taking in Sakura's overall appearance. Then, she smoothly turned back to the large lily centered in the arrangement.

"Ino, can I talk to you?" she murmured as a greeting, evenly, her hand nearly in front of her mouth, as if the blood could now be covered. It was embarrassing, especially given the reason for it. Kimiko was staring, and Sakura was regretting having not cleaned up before coming in. At the time she had decided to come here, it had not seemed like a necessary course of action. Ino did not respond, though, and her fingers continued to roll over the stems in front of her.

"I need your help," she added calmly, and the drying blood on her lip cracked with the movement. Maintaining the calm was taking effort. Anger and sadness were roiling beneath her exterior. She hoped that the words would motivate her friend the way her face had not. They did not.

Ino whirled on her, her face turning pink with rage as she nearly shouted, "My _help_? _My_ help?"

"Ino-chan," her mother interrupted calmly, but the kunoichi ignored her.

"Ino?" Sakura asked, floundering again. The last time she had seen Ino so angry was during their first chuunin exam when she had made the mistake of trying to disregard her. In fact it was the only time Ino was ever really annoyed, when she was being ignored. Now Sakura was practically begging for her attention, her help, and it was all the blond could do to control herself.

"Oh no!" she shouted, rejecting the words as she came off of her seat. "Unless you come in here with a suitable _apology_, you are _forbidden_ from entering this store." Sakura flinched at the harsh words, confused and hurt all over again. She had seen Ino annoyed, angry, and hurt before, but this reaction… This was _fury_, visceral and undiluted.

It was completely wrong.

"Get OUT," Ino clarified, as if the first words had not been suitable. Sakura flinched again as if Ino had slapped her. A slap would have hurt less.

Sakura stepped away silently, then withdrawing from the store altogether with a burst of speed that nearly damaged the door. The Yamanaka voices faded from her hearing as did the sudden murmuring in the street as her feet took to the balconies and rooftops.

_Everything_ was _wrong_.

Minutes later when she found herself in front of Naruto's door, her tears were falling without reserve. She caught two in her palm, looking at their dark pink tinge before she knocked quickly. Sasuke hit her. Ino was angry. Tsunade was gone. Sasuke hit her. Kakashi was here. Naruto was aloof. _Sasuke hit her_.

The sound of the door opening had a calming effect on her, and when she looked up at Naruto, the tears slowed. They did not stop, though, and when he frowned at her she shook her head. She needed to have seen that concern on Ino's face, but she was glad to see it on his. His eyes were large and questioning as he gently pulled her inside. This was it. He was going to be angry. Of course he would be. _She_ was furious, but sadness was paramount, drowning anger for the moment.

"Don't freak out," she said he closed the door behind them. She turned back and averted her eyes as he approached. He was surprisingly calm, given the state of her face, and when his hands cupped either side of it, the touch was gentle, unlike his normal exuberant motions. Her head turned side to side at his will, as he examined her nose and face.

It was a strange turnaround, but the care calmed her as much as Ino's reaction had upset her. He did not ask, but she spoke anyway. "Sasuke hit me," she muttered, wincing both in fear of his reaction and because his fingertip had poked the broken protuberance. At least she had managed to control some of the swelling.

Naruto sighed, withdrawing his hands as he stepped away from her, disappearing into his room. His silence was unnerving. She stood mutely, waiting for the explosion that never came. Sounds of shuffling and searching echoed from his bathroom. Some minutes later he returned holding disinfectantand some old stained cloths. As he drew closer, she realized they had been used for just such purposes before.

"What did you expect?" he finally responded, and she stared at him with wide eyes, not nearly as confused as they appeared. Sakura was a smart girl, and rarely had trouble grasping the reality of a situation.

His words were dangerous, the reality behind them damning, but it was his tone that bothered her most. It was a tone she had only heard him use once or twice before, the times his spirit had come dangerously close to breaking.

He set the supplies down and leaned over her, close and warm. "Ready?" he asked, cupping her face gently once more. For a brief, terrifying moment, she thought he might try to kiss her.

"For what?" she asked, despite herself. Before she could prepare for the unknown, his fingers snaked over and straightened her nose. The crack resonated through the room, and Sakura screeched, swatting his head on reflex.

"Asshole!" she shouted in a less garbled tone, clutching her nose as blood began to flow again. It took some effort to restore her concentration, to focus past the pain, and then a minimal effort to stop the bleeding again. Naruto paused briefly in caressing the wallop she had packed on him in favor of staring at her work. His grin faltered only slightly though, and the defeated shadows were no longer in his eyes. "You could have warned me!" she scolded, patting her nose in light touches. The pain was gone, and the break was fixed.

"'Ready' is a warning, your _highness_," he retorted, already sponging disinfectant on one of the cloths. "Besides, you actually told me before _not_ to warn you last time, remember?" He led her to the table with the supplies and made her sit on its edge before he began to dab at the dried blood.

"Last time?" she asked incredulously. Naruto sighed, but said nothing. The smile was gone again.

A silence thick with tension settled between them. Its origins were from something beyond the damage she had sustained today. Of that much she was certain. Something was wrong, she knew, but to what extent she had no clue. It was time to start getting answers.

"Danzou's Hokage," she said firmly.

"Yep," he answered calmly, eyes roving around her nose as he tilted her head back. His touch was firm and intent, but not painful. Even the pain in her nose was lessening.

"How long has he held office?" she asked, ignoring the urge to take over the treatment. It was her area of expertise, but he had yet to make a mistake. She wondered when he had learned even this much first aid.

"Four years," was the curious reply. The ministrations stopped briefly as Naruto regarded her with eyes that matched his tone. Sakura matched his glance with a hard stare of her own.

Four years. The man had been the Hokage for four years. How was this even possible?

Sighing, she asked, "And how long has Sasuke been… like _this_?" She gestured to her face.

Naruto snorted, "You mean how long has he been an asshole? Since the Academy." He paused, releasing her face slowly, as if he did not trust himself to touch her and speak at the same time. "I'm not sure when the hitting started, but it didn't stop you from marrying him."

Sakura sighed heavily, feeling like the wind had been knocked from her. "He's supposed to be cool and aloof," she responded, shaking her head. "But not with _me_. And he's _not supposed_ to hit me," she added fiercely.

"Sakura," he interrupted again, holding her chin in the midst of his cleaning. Her eyes rolled to him, her expression nearly petulant with belated denial. "How do you think you ended up in the hospital? I know you've been covering for him for years, but an 'enemy jutsu'? Seriously?" He shook his head again with an angry sigh and continued cleaning her face. "Why didn't you just say you'd fallen down the stairs?" he muttered.

She was only half-listening. Her eyes stared at a point on the wall past his head where a picture of the Team from their early days was hanging. Kakashi was in the background, and as genin they had retained their positions in the foreground, but otherwise everything about them was different. Oh, the clothes were the same, Sasuke's blue shirt, her own red cheongsam, and then Naruto's ridiculous orange jacket. But their expressions were different. Better. Kakashi's smile was less pained, and more genuine. Sasuke was smiling too, facing the camera properly. Sakura's eyes were closed, both of her arms wrapped around her teammates' shoulders. Naruto's eyes were cut to the side, but he was smiling brightly.

It was not the picture that had sat on the desk in her childhood bedroom for years.

They were happy, happier than her memories ever remembered, even with forgetting the bad.

What had happened?

Sakura was still staring at the picture when she began to speak in an even tone, "I had a mission to Sand. I was taking a box from Tsunade-sama, the Hokage, to Gaara, the Kazekage." Naruto stared down at her, their eyes meeting in matching emotional stares. "I'm _not_ crazy. That is as the world _should _be."

"It sounds better than the world is." His tone was cynical and bitter. He turned back to his task, settled in reality.

"What happened to you?" she asked calmly, grabbing the hand that was cleaning her face. The cloth in his hand was muted orange and brown, chips of blood speckling it. He frowned at her before pulling his hand away and continuing his self-appointed task.

"Five years of seeing your best friend bullied and beaten will take its toll on you."

Gently, she took the hand once more, catching his attention again. The expression he gave her made her stomach clench. He was as angry as she had expected him to be, but he was controlling himself.

She smiled up at him, and found it was easy to do so.

"I'm fine," she said into the silence, even though it was not entirely true. She was confused beyond reason, and she seemed to be the only one who thought any of this was strange. Just the same, her injuries did not bother her nearly as much as the fact that Sasuke had created them, and she was beginning to have some ideas about what was going on. She had an epiphany about the nature of the injuries she had discovered in front of the mirror. Best not to dwell on them, though, angry as she was.

Naruto though, it was clear, had been hurting for a long time. At his disbelieving stare, she sighed and leaned forward, wrapping her arms around him. He tensed beneath her and she laughed gently, "I'm not going to hit you." Then slowly, his arms met her frame.

It was ironic that she had come seeking comfort, but found herself in the position of comforter. It was strengthening, to realize that she could do this for him. She still had strength, and she still had capability. She was determined to make it through whatever this was.

Pulling away from him, she took a deep breath and said, "Naruto, I don't think I'm supposed to be here."

"No," he agreed. "Sasuke's going to be pissed off if he realizes you were here."

"No," she countered, shaking her head. "I mean… _here_. In… Konoha… In this… _world_?" She groaned, shaking her heads as she slid from the table. "That sounds crazy," she said, giggling slightly. It was not a comforting sound. "Can we just… talk? For a little while?" she asked, facing him again.

"Sure," he answered gently. It was clear that whatever else was going on, Naruto was still on her side.

So they talked, straight through the afternoon and late into the evening, mostly about the differences she had begun naming with Kakashi, but never finished.

Naruto was a perpetual chuunin and had been since fourteen. No three jounin would recommend him for the jounin's test, and his admission of that fact was worrisome, but she did not interrupt him to ask after it. There were plenty of jounin in the Konoha she knew who would have recommended him. She did not want to think about why they wouldn't, or couldn't, in the world she had woken in.

He was also perpetually single, and it was as much of a shock as everything else when he claimed that Hinata had never shown interest in him. She was marrying someone within her clan. Sakura had only asked because the shy heiress she knew had finally begun to make her affection known. Well, in a way that Naruto understood, anyway.

She stared at him with a truly worried expression. He stared back, poised for a horrible question when she quickly asked, "You still like ramen, right?"

He laughed healthily and nodded, "Yeah…"

"And you still do the oroike, right?"

He grinned again, this time deviously, as he answered, "From time to time."

"Well… where's Jiraiya?" she queried, realizing that a lot of his situation would have been rectified if the man she knew were alive. His face fell at the question, and she steeled herself, realizing immediately it had been too much to hope for a pleasant difference. Had he died fighting against Pein here, too?

"He died years ago, before I even became a chuunin." It was an honest, open enough answer, but his tone said the conversation was off limits. She nodded slowly, folding her hands into her lap.

"I'm glad you found something to make you happy," he added, changing the subject. "You're a medic nin, right?"

"Right," she answered, fingering the bridge of her nose again. It was completely healed now.

"Yeah, that's a big difference," he sighed. She mimicked the breath.

It was with some sadness, she spoke, "It doesn't mean much here… I thought I was happy with Sasuke, the Sasuke I woke up to in the hospital, but this… this _stranger_ is not really who I thought he was." She explained a bit about who he was supposed to be. The man she had married was standoffish, sometimes single-minded, but also gentle. He had never hit her outside of sparring, and he rarely spoke harsh words to her, even on his bad days.

"He doesn't sound too bad," Naruto offered, and for a moment Sakura was not sure if he was trying to appease her or he really believed her.

"He's not bad. He's your best friend, and he's… he's wonderful," she said, even as she realized it. She scooted silently to the floor, staring at her hands as she remembered the man who had snuck a tomato onigiri and had paid for it with a hug and a kiss. She remembered the man who was gone for two weeks on high-class mission, who rarely complained to her about anything, who always thanked her for her contributions to the house, their home. She remembered the white daisies he brought her once a week, even though he knew nothing about flowers, and she remembered the weapons' oil he brought to her without asking. She remembered the folded cash on her nightstand attached to a note with three words, "For fun shopping." She remembered them all and suddenly felt like crying even more than she had before.

Where had _that_ man gone? More importantly, where had _she_ gone, to be away from him?

"…Sasuke I know is beyond an asshole," Naruto was saying with some vehemence. Sakura nodded in agreement.

"What happened with Ino?" she asked, trying to pull her thoughts away from her husband.

"What else? You guys had a falling out. Over Sasuke." Naruto said, forgetting his duty to sympathy. So much for forgetting Sasuke, even momentarily.

She sighed, running a hand through her hair. She'd lost a dear friend… for a man who was not even worth the time of day. Oh, her husband would have been worth it. "_Maybe_," she amended silently. He certainly stood more of a chance than the man who had hit her in the alleyway, who had obviously injured her before today. What kind of man was this Sasuke, to hit her so violently over just mentioning Itachi's name? _Had_ he put her in the hospital? It made sense, since none of the injuries matched those she remembered receiving from the nin, and why Naruto had been so protective. It made sense for Kakashi's words just hours ago. Sasuke affectionate? It seemed laughable now. The kiss he'd given her after bloodying her face was an abomination that made her angry all over again.

What else had he done to this body? And how had she even _ended up_ in this body? The theories that immediately jumped to mind were few, and weak to boot. Genjutsu was possible, but highly improbable. She had already tried to do the release technique twice, the second time with a strong burst of chakra. Besides, nothing in the physical sense felt off. It was only in interacting with her friends that it became clear how wrong everything was. A mind-transfer technique of some kind? Maybe, but she was in her body, and surrounded by her friends, in a village that looked exactly the same…

Her fingers caught a tangle at the ends of her hair and she fisted the strands. None of this was hers. This world was not hers. This situation was not hers. This husband was not hers. She gave the silky threads a sharp tug. This damned hair was _not_. _hers_.

"Do you have a kunai?" she asked, working a tangle out distractedly. There was no answer for a moment, and when she looked up at him, he was regarding her warily. It was the kind of concern she was more accustomed to on the battlefield than over the coffee table. "What?" she asked calmly. He sighed and then retrieved one from his bedroom, tossing it to her levelly.

She plucked it from the air and twirled her empty fingers to twist the sugary pink threads into a single rope. He managed his weapons well, and the knife slid through without resistance. The cut was finished almost before she realized she had started, and her fisted hand dropped to her lap with a telling knot of pink hair. She grinned down at the mass of threads before looking back to her friend.

Naruto was gaping at her in a way she found vindicating, and funnily, almost familiar.

"You sure you're not crazy?" he intoned carefully.

Smirking, she tossed the knife back to him and breathed a little more easily. "This is me," she said, tossing her head to fluff what remained connected to her scalp. She gave the fistful of newly liberated ones a therapeutic shake. When she stood and threw all of the hair out the window, Naruto laughed nervously.

"Yeah, no one will _ever_ find that," he snarked, but she only laughed, feeling the day's troubles dim in light of taking control of the situation. Her hair was her own. She would cut it if she wanted. Her body was her own, and no one was going to be knocking it around anymore.

They continued talking while the sun sank over the horizon. Sakura never made a motion to leave, and Naruto did not ask her to, despite his previous warning about Sasuke's disposition. They ate ramen for dinner, ramen from a cup that tasted better than anything she had ever had at Ichiraku.

Naruto explained some more of the differences between what they were both used to. More than once she was tripped up, but consoled herself that everything she learned now in this safe environment was one less thing that would cause her to falter out there. Eventually, she would have to go face it again, face him again. The only difference was that from here on out, she was taking control.

It was nearly midnight before the day caught up with her. She had been feeling almost normal by the time she and Naruto had finished eating, but they never stopped talking. When his clock had cuckooed at midnight, it was like something inside of her had snapped, and all of the strength suddenly left her.

She stared at the clock face with bleary green eyes, as the events caught up with her- accepting that Tsunade was gone (not dead, nothing said she was dead), lunch with Kakashi, Sasuke and Danzou and Sasuke again, Ino, and now everything with Naruto. It had been a full day, indeed.

"You know, I think I believe you," Naruto admitted, oblivious to her weariness. She turned to look at him with a sardonic stare. "I don't know why," he added, and something about his tone was off. He was not quite being honest with her on that one, but she was too tired to call him out on the lie. "It may just be that you _are_ crazy, but," he smiled at her, "I believe you."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence," she said, with a loose thumbs up, her eyes sliding closed. She yawned heavily, rubbing a hand over her face wearily. The pain in her nose was only a memory now, and happily the appendage moved only in its natural way.

"Here," he said as he stood from the couch and pushed her to recline on it. "Sleep here tonight, ok?"

"Oh good," she said, rolling onto her side comfortably. "I wanted to ask, but I thought you might feel weird about it." She felt more than saw him shake his head.

"I've been trying to protect you for five years now," he sighed, pulling a blanket off of the back onto her relaxing form. "It's the first time you've actually _let_ me." She frowned at the idea that she would ever resist Naruto's help. She trusted him as much as she trusted herself. "But you're my best friend," she murmured, sleepily, already drifting away to someplace safer and calmer. "Thanks, Naruto," she whispered, shifting her face against the pillow.

He mumbled something in reply, but she never heard it.

* * *

><p>AN: This chapter is 17 pages long. Even though it moved a little quickly, going from Sakura adoring Sasuke to being (understandably) frightened by him, I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. I don't think I needed to draw out the mushy stuff between them. Actually, it would have been pretty cruel, given that it's not how Sasuke roooollllss. I like him better honest, anyway. Strong, silent type. Yum.<p>

Also, on Sai/Kara's name. It's the same kanji used for karate, which in that context means "empty," which I think is very fitting. Of course, that kanji can also be read as Sora, which is a more common reading, but given that their was a character whho was already called Sora in the anime, I wanted to avoid confusion. Not that I hold to the anime particularly, but there you have it.

Finally, THANK you to everyone who has taken the time to review. It really does mean **a lot** to me. I am consistently impressed with your theories and speculation. They make me giggle in humor and appreciation! Really, what else is the point of writing fanfiction if other people can't appreciate it and enjoy it as much as the writer? I mean, JK Rowling didn't write Harry Potter entirely for herself. Haha, not to elevate myself to her level of authorship, but the ananlogy fits. That said, please keep reviewing. Only about 3% of you are, and that's just discouraging given the amount of time and effort gone into this story. Thanks, guys :)


	6. Will

Apologies for the late update :) Life and all that...

When he slid into his seat at the table Naruto and Sakura were already there, chairs with backs to the wall and facing the door. He had given them enough time to arrive before him and to pick the space that would allow her to feel safe. It was what he would have wanted before facing an enemy.

Naruto smiled at him before reaching around Sakura to pour him a glass of water. Sakura did not lean out of his way. She firmly held her seat, eyes focused on Sasuke, who did not try to look away. It was hard enough holding himself back in every other self-imposed way, and she was sleeping at Naruto's apartment. He would have preferred Ino's, but with Kiba in residence, it was an ill-fated hope. Yet he did not complain that she was staying with their former teammate. What else could he give her?

"So," Naruto began as he pushed the ice water toward his friend, "when I came upon you in Sand, there was that Nin." His face became grim. "He had you by the head." Naruto turned to Sakura, who was all but clinging to him. Naruto mimed the motion he had seen the enemy making against his own forehead. She took the news with a double take. Sasuke wondered if she realized until then that he had been talking to her, about her. Had neither of them spoken about it the night before?

Naruto either did not notice her surprise or ignored it. "The guy looked like he was using a one-handed seal." He turned to Sasuke. "Remember Haku from the Wave Country?"

"I know what a one-handed seal is, dobe," the brunette countered testily. Naruto met his glare with a smirk.

"Well, Tsunade-sama and I conferred." That would explain why he had not spoken to Sakura. Sasuke refrained from asking why he had not been included in the conference, but his mood darkened. "We think the seal may have detonated a mind-transference jutsu of some kind. Or at the very least, an S-class genjutsu." Naruto sighed and leaned back again, unfurling his arm to wrap around Sakura's chair.

Sasuke stared at the pair. At any other time, Naruto's obliviousness would not have bothered him. He knew his friend's physicality. It had been part of his personality since they had been put together as teammates. At any other time, if Sakura had been the least bit bothered by it, she would have punched the man herself. But this was not any other day, and Sakura was not herself. Naruto should have known better. Sasuke scowled.

They really did look like a couple.

"So Tsunade thinks that if we can find the technique that did this, we can find a reversal for it."

"It would take more than a technique to do or undo what's been done," Sakura spoke, staring down at her water glass. She was back to not looking at him, and Sasuke felt his patience wearing thin.

"Explain what you mean," he commanded, his tone curt.

"Hey," Naruto warned, glaring at him.

"'Hey' what?" Sasuke demanded, returning the stare with an icy glare of his own. He was immune to Naruto's anger, to his raging, and he was nearly immune to Sakura's nagging. He was not, however, immune to her indifference, to her fear.

"Don't be an asshole to her," Naruto returned, just as waspish. Beside him, Sakura cringed, her eyes darting between the two of them.

"I'm not being an asshole. I'm being myself. Sakura knows me."

"You're not being yourself," she interrupted. Both of her teammates stared at her, and she raised her eyes to Sasuke once more. It was the same expression she had given him last night, after he'd dismissed her to Naruto's. This time it was tinged with confusion. "The man I married would not tolerate being spoken to that way."

"This is how we always talk," Naruto interjected, his eyes narrowed as he used to do when a genin.

Sakura shook her head, still staring at Sasuke. Her eyes were bold for the first time in days.

"I woke up after being…" she paused, "attacked." Still, she did not look away.

"Who attacked you?" Naruto demanded, wondering if she had gotten a good glimpse at the nin, after all. Naruto himself had seen their Rain uniforms, but by the time he had finished intervening, there had not been much left to identify any of them. "Who?" he asked again, and Sasuke wondered if he was trying to bury his guilt over destroying any leads they might have had. Lost leads were the only thing remiss about the situation, though. Sasuke was glad Naruto had meted out justice to the ones who had attacked her.

She continued to hold his gaze, her eyes giving away no expression. They did not need to, though. The fact that she was staring at him at all spoke enough.

"I did."

Naruto turned to Sasuke, who was staring at Sakura grimly. His hands were loose on the tabletop, the water untouched, menu unopened.

"Whaaaat?" Naruto intoned, frowning heavily. Blue eyes darted between black and green, both of which were locked on the other. Sakura's face was tense, Sasuke's passive.

Sheh did not deny it, and for Naruto that was confirmation enough.

"What the hell?" the blond demanded, his chair hitting the floor as he stood up. He was practically snarling down at the brunette, whose own patience looked like it was about to snap. "What were you thinking?" Sakura flinched, but again Naruto did not notice it. Sasuke did, though, another piece of evidence in the rapidly growing puzzle.

"Idiot," Sasuke hissed. "_Think_ about the situation." It might have been too much to hope for Naruto to be objective given that his best friends were at the core of this mystery. "She is terrfied. Of me." His free hand pointed to her, while the other clenched tightly in his lap, trying to maintain control.

He continued as Naruto's face eased from monstrous to frowning, "She won't come near me. She acts like she expects or even _wants_ me to do unspeakable things to her." The memory of her naked body lit behind his eyes like a flare.

"I never wanted any of that-" she interrupted vehemently, but Sasuke kept talking, nearly shouting at Naruto. He had not forgotten that they were in public, but there was no stopping now.

"If _she_ thinks that _I_ attacked her when you _clearly_ found her with _Rain_ nin, then what does that tell you?" he demanded of the blond. Naruto froze before he dropped into his seat. His eyes were wide as he took Sasuke's words to heart. The prodigy could practically see the wheels turning in his head, eyes widening and flickering with ideas and insights. "Think!" Sasuke commanded again, unable to resist a final dig. "And it's not genjutsu- I don't care what Tsunade says. I already checked for it myself."

When he finally looked up, his blue eyes were bright and- Sasuke would never have labeled Naruto as nervous, but there was definitely a minutia of anxiety in his stare. Sasuke nodded slowly.

The blond turned to Sakura and asked softly, "Is this right?"

Sakura turned to him briefly and nodded. To Sasuke, it seemed like she might try to manage a smile, or at least that she wanted to, but the expression faded before it got off the ground.

"I think so." There was a pause. "I'm pretty sure." She took a delicate sip of water that Sasuke thought looked out of place. It was a motion more in tune with Hyuuga Hinata's mannerisms. She did not look at either of them.

"Then… who _are_ you?"

Naruto stared at her for nearly a full minute, as if he might be able to figure her out just by looking at her. Sasuke took the time to regain his composure, feeling that at least if the situation was still bizarre, it was no longer quite as confounding. They had something to go on, and it also, to some extent, explained some of her irrational fear of him.

"I'm Sakura," she answered to Naruto. "…Just not the one you know." Sasuke glanced to her. Her confirmation was less moving than he thought it might be. He felt underwhelmed.

"How can you be sure?" Sasuke queried quietly. Both glanced to him, but it was Sakura's gaze he held. He believed her. He had believed her before she had confirmed it but, "I just want to hear it from you." His dark gaze cut away from her for a heartbeat, but then turned back. He pressed again, "How do you know?"

Sakura's face shifted away from him slightly, but her gaze did not waver under his. "I'm a genjutsu master," she said with a tone more solid than any she had used since the hospital. After letting the statement sink in, she quickly added, "I know illusions. Whatever this is, it isn't one."

* * *

><p>Despite their late night and the few hours of sleep she managed to snag, Sakura woke feeling refreshed. More than Naruto's efficient setting of her nose or even his slightly cynical presence, the fact that he had accepted her theory had gone a long way to settling her spirit.<p>

It took the better part of the morning to work up her resolve to returning home, despite her intentions last night. Clarity of mind changed her priorities slightly, made the fear stronger.

She was trying to utilize what little she knew of this Sasuke's schedule, daily missions with returns by the night. Maybe he would not be there when she returned, though it would only drag their necessary confrontation out even further. Maybe he was livid that she had not returned the evening before, but the idea of his anger taking an explosive quality did not bother her. The farther removed this bad copy of her husband was from the man she knew, the better she could handle it. Even if he wore Sasuke's face.

Still, it was noon before she stopped dragging her feet. She was avoiding the issue; in the end, she knew she would have to face what had happened the day before.

Naruto accompanied her, punctual even before she had decided to leave, but not rushing her. He was a quiet presence at her arm as they walked, but he did not try to touch her or 'accidentally' bump into her as he did in their younger years. If anything, when they entered the street, he seemed to regain the tight control he had displayed in the hospital.

The pedestrian traffic was crowded, civilians and shinobi alike converging for lunchtime. The loose throng of bodies did nothing to hide the presence that suddenly appeared in her senses, though.

Her eyes snapped up, and her body stilled. She looked straight through the crowd to where Sasuke was standing a few meters away, his eyes locked on hers as well. They were cool, coal black, and getting closer with every step he took. None of the affection she had grown so fond of the past few days was anywhere to be found. His face was as dark and threatening as thunderclouds.

Naruto sensed him as well, and as Sasuke cut through the crowd with his usual grace and precision, the tall blond tensed. The brunette was not even trying to hide his displeasure, and Sakura thought briefly about yesterday. His hand had flashed down like lightning, and had hurt like lightning too. She was not going to drop her guard around him again. The sudden anticipation for action, for defense, made her muscles tingle in preparation. It was not a pleasant feeling.

He was standing a meter away when he spoke, "It's time for you to come home." Naruto's fingers fanned briefly, then clenched. Sasuke did not look at him, only flicked his eyes to her shorn hair as he added, "Alone." They were sparse words, but heavy with promise. Sakura knew to trust her instincts, to stop ignoring reality in favor of illusion. He would need the sharingan to coax her before she agreed to go anywhere with him. Especially, alone.

People were slowing in their search for lunch. Some were beginning to stare.

Emboldened, she answered, "Naruto is my friend." She paused to allow the words to sink in. "He will always be welcome wherever I am." At her side, Naruto seemed to relax by a fraction. Then he tensed again.

Sasuke snorted before he spoke, "Impudence makes you ugly." An achingly familiar smirk curled his mouth.

Then he moved.

It was only a meter's distance away, but she had been tense since leaving the apartment, and she had yet to stop being a ninja. The hand grabbing for her arm missed by a breath as she jerked away. Naruto immediately slipped into the small space between their bodies, and Sasuke's eyes widened in surprise. It was clear that he had not expected resistance.

For a moment her mind was in the training grounds with Team Seven; everything was fine. They were all just too close, and soon Naruto would laugh and Sasuke would curse him and she would reprimand them both and- Sasuke grabbed the blond's fingers with a loud, telling crunch before thrusting the offending arm upward and darting under it altogether. She'd forgotten his speed. Or maybe it was that he had never truly used it against her. Naruto's pain cost him enough time to allow the pass, and then there was no one between the two of them.

Sakura moved to block Sasuke's reaching hand, but he did not intend to strike her, only grab her. He did, and the hold was painfully tight around her wrist. Black eyes held green with icy fury, and Sakura started, despite her unwavering resolve.

There was no justification for the rage directed at her. Was he so furious because she'd defied him, embarrassed him? She could only remember one time when he'd looked at her that way; in the Iron Country when she had tried to convince herself she could end his pain, end him. He had laughed at her and Kakashi both, and the anger in his eyes had been like nothing she had ever seen. Not until now, but even then the edge of madness had tainted his words. Now there was only a cold, clear intent to his wrath.

If he squeezed much tighter, he would break her bones. The lack of surprise she felt in her assessment had already broken her heart. Husband or no, the pain was wrenching.

Behind him, Naruto was watching, afraid to worsen the situation, clutching the broken fingers in his hand. Sakura's jaw clenched.

Her hair. Her body.

Her free fist clenched behind her hip, and later she would decide it was because Sasuke was not expecting resistance from her that she managed to slip past his defenses so easily. The fist struck his jaw with strength he did not expect. The grip on her wrist dissolved as his body jerked away in an explosion of power. It was bitter therapy to see his body hit an unoccupied dango stand, enough force behind the strike to tear the wooden side wall off of the shop.

She took a deep breath, shaking the pain from her offended wrist. Her knuckles tingled with the expulsion of chakra, but otherwise held no pain. This body was still weaker than what she was used to, clearly lacking the chakra stores she had been building for the past ten years.

A ripped no-ren dangled lightly in the breeze. Silence weighed heavily in the street until a harbinger creak signaled the fall of the other walls. They dropped like sheets of flat paper on her husband's prone body and a groan slowly rose from beneath them.

"Shit…" Naruto breathed. "Sakura," he whispered as he turned to her with wide eyes. There was a touch of reverence to his tone.

She was still staring at the place Sasuke had fallen, twice the distance from when their eyes had first met. Naruto and Sai, the young men she _knew_, had been on the receiving end of her fists before, but she had always pulled her punches. Not to save their stupidity, but to keep from killing them. Yet never, not once, had she hit any of her teammates to protect herself from them. For Sasuke, a Sasuke un-touched by Uchiha Madara to act this way…

She felt a warm hand on hers. Naruto was studying the hand that had delivered the blow, but it only took a moment for his eyes to find hers. They were still wide with wonder, with something else she could not name.

"We have to go," he breathed. "Right now." It was still Naruto, and she trusted him. So they did.

It was an unfamiliar apartment, not his own, that he brought them to. At the front door, Naruto jimmied the lock with a basic technique. Sakura made to rush forward, certain that Sasuke was right behind, about to bring down all of his fury on them. Naruto's hand holding her back, though, made her pause. He spent another minute disabling traps behind the door, giving her a better idea of whose dwelling they might be breaking into.

It was Mr. Ukki at the balcony window who cinched her understanding. Naruto closed the door behind them while Sakura distracted herself by looking at the plant.

"Sensei's out on a mission, I guess, but you've crashed here a few- obviously, you know- or maybe you don't know that?" His words were fumbling over themselves. He sounded as nervous as she felt. "When Sasuke's out on missions, you've crashed here before," he explained carefully, but Sakura did not acknowledge the words. She did not completely understand the logic behind his assertion. If Sasuke were not there, she did not think she would have a problem staying in the compound. It was her home, after all. She paused with realization. No. Without Sasuke, her Sasuke, the place would have been as foreign as any hotel room, and its history certainly more depressing.

"Come here," she commanded as he stepped away from the door. He neared, and she took his broken hand. He flinched, as if he might want to pull away, but her fingers locked over his wrist and he stilled. The green light of shousen wrapped around her hand, brighter than the light from the evening before. Naruto saw it too, different and at the first touch, his body gradually relaxed. Silence fell in the room, as quiet and powerful in its own way as her hit against Sasuke had been.

All of the injuries she had healed in the past week had come from Sasuke. The thought made her heart plummet.

She was reinforcing the calcium structures in his fingers when she asked calmly, "He really _did_ put me in the hospital, didn't he?"

"Yeah."

"I didn't want to believe it," she spoke quietly, sighing. Another minute passed before she released him. He flexed and curled the properly set fingers. "But now I know. For real." Her eyes drifted to the floor as Naruto dropped the hand. She wished she was a million miles away. Or maybe just a world away. "He's not the man I fell in love with."

"And you're not the woman he married, either," Naruto answered. "The Sakura who married him would never have fought back. Or done this…" She glanced up to see him holding his hand up like a torch in the darkness, fingers showing their mobility like flickering flame.

Sakura had nothing to say to that. She had nothing to say at all.

In the wake of her silence, Naruto departed to some other part of the small apartment. In the quiet, she was able to calm down enough to settle in. She was not sure what he intended, but was glad for the silence, for the reprieve. Despite her off-handed analogy to Kakashi about wonderland, she really did feel as though she had landed in some twisted nightmare.

It felt like someone had taken her lid off, turned her upside down, and shaken out all of her insides. What part of her understanding or experience could be applied in this place? None of it was relevant; none of it was compatible with the reality around her.

Her friend returned barely minutes after he'd left with a two bowls, each holding a half portion of ramen. "Kakashi-sensei only had one cup ramen. You mind if we share?"

Sakura quirked a brow, but accepted the bowl from him. "What's wrong with vegetables, exactly?" she asked, amusement coloring her tone.

"Uhh, they exist?" He grinned. "I didn't even check the fridge… Besides, ramen has vegetables. Look at the onions and stuff."

"These aren't real vegetables. _Besides_, I see you gave me all of your not-onions and stuff."

"So it's not a problem?" he quipped, wielding his chopsticks with a quick flare. She grinned at him, feeling the sudden urge to berate him. It was so… _Naruto_; right down to the cheeky grin that followed.

"Idiot," she snapped, and was about to say more when a light knock at the door interrupted her. Both froze; their bodies turned as one.

"Is it him?" Sakura asked, climbing to her feet, the _him_ unnecessary. Her senses were already reaching for the presence on the other side.

"Like he'd knock," Naruto answered, stepping past her to stand between her and the door.

"Sensei?" she wondered aloud, stepping up beside him. She didn't need to be protected all of the time, even if he wanted to. He glanced at her for her boldness.

There was another knock, and then a muffled, "Sakura."

The teammates turned to regard one another with surprised glances. Both could feel the presence on the other side of the door, familiar and light, and most importantly, non-threatening.

It was Sakura who opened the door, and saw her oldest friend standing just beyond, her expression closely guarded. Ino did not wait to be invited but let herself in, pushing through the pair to close the door quickly. Her eye rested against the peephole for a few long seconds. When she turned back, Sakura realized Naruto had gone back to his noodles, but she could only stare at the platinum blond.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, unable to hide the raw curiosity from her voice.

Ino shrugged out of her sweater, and it was the first time Sakura realized she had been wearing a hood. The cloak and dagger act struck her as ridiculous. They were ninja, after all, and a hood would not prevent anyone from discovering her identity. Then her sky blue eyes met Sakura's, and she smirked.

"You said you needed help," she finally answered, smoothing her ponytail with grasping fingers.

"That was yesterday!" Sakura snapped, finding a vent for her concern in annoyance. Did the woman think there was no time limit on urgency? "I'm sorry, is the blood still on my face?" she added, turning her head back and forth for emphasis. It was baiting, she knew, but the rejection in the flower shop, in front of Ino's mother even, still hurt. She hadn't done anything to the girl, regardless of what her counterpart had done, and she was really starting to get pissed for having to pick up the pieces.

Ino did not rise to the occasion, but brushed past her easily. She took a seat next to Naruto, squeezing close enough to him to make him scoot over. He took his bowl with him protectively as Sakura resumed seiza, staring at the other kunoichi with wide eyes.

"I heard what happened," she explained, and her smirk slowly turned into a full smile.

"This afternoon?" Sakura clarified. What else could Ino be talking about that had happened between the flowershop and now? She nodded, and the smirk returned, slyly.

"Half the village has heard what's happened by now." The admission did not diminish her enjoyment of the situation, though Sakura felt a heavy lump settle in her. "Of course, Konoha has lots of rumors and half-truths, but I wouldn't be fit for Interrogation if I couldn't sort through it all, hmm?" She swept a loose hair back to her crown in a move that was so _Ino_ that Sakura felt a twinge of nostalgia. "That was a grandiose gesture, by the way," she said a bit more quietly. "I'd call it… an _S-rank_ apology."

The twinge turned into something a little bit stronger as Ino continued to smile at her. She leaned forward quickly, jostling the table, and threw her arms around the young woman who accepted her freely. Naruto's startled cry as he tried to save Sakura's ramen went ignored. She was too focused on burying herself in Ino's embrace, the familiar comfort of her lithe figure. Ino held just as tightly as she did.

"Good job, Forehead Girl," the blond murmured consolingly, a smile coloring her voice.

"Thanks, Ino Pig." Sakura was finally able to respond and then pulled away. Ino was grinning at her when she brushed her tears away.

They were still smiling at each other when Naruto added cheekily, "If you guys would make out, this would be about ten times better."

As one they turned, glaring at him, but it was Sakura's fist that came down on his head.

"Ite-te-te…!"

"Idiot."

"Wow, Forehead. Violent, much?"

Naruto sighed, rubbing his crown tenderly as he quirked a brow at Ino. Sakura relaxed back onto the heels of her feet and reached for her bowl, but it was already empty, yet Naruto continued slurping noodles. Her noodles. Her teammate glanced to Ino quickly and said, "Well, it must be obvious to you by now."

"Obvious?" the blond queried, while Sakura fumed over her lost food. They hadn't eaten breakfast at all, and now she was starving.

"That's not our Sakura-chan," he clarified. Well, that was one way to make her forget her hunger. Almost. Sakura turned her head enough to watch them both. Naruto was still smiling, softer now though, as if waiting for her to become the fragile creature he was used to. Ino looked confused. Her eyes darted between Naruto and Sakura, waiting for the punchline, but as neither was forthcoming, she went from being confused to outright disbelieving. Sakura thought it was a little gratifying, despite the grave situation.

Naruto explained the situation while Sakura went to raid some of the vegetables he had mentioned before. Ramen for two meals was never a good idea, anyway. She took her time in front of the cold box. Maybe it would have been fairer to Ino, to the entire situation, for her to take a greater role in explaining who she was and how she had arrived. But she was tired of hashing through the details, and her hunger was on the verge of making her cranky.

When she returned with a jar of capers in one hand and half of a bok choy in the other, Ino only stared at her, and not for her culinary decisions. Sakura returned to her seat and looked at her two friends, her best friends, she realized, and began to munch on the cabbage. Her green eyes regarded both of them easily, as if it were a normal day, as if they were not all hiding from her psychotic sort-of-husband.

"Well, it makes sense," Ino said at last as Sakura continued crunching with satisfaction. She waited for the explanation and Ino smirked at her again, "I was completely surprised to see you yesterday, and this only seals it." She sighed, the smirk fading somewhat. "It figures that you'd have to cross light years, or whatever, just to let go of your stubbornness."

Sakura grinned and shook her head. Ino's disappointment was still there, even if they could both keep smiling. Sakura was not her friend who had come to her senses. She was someone else, wearing her friend's face. At the same time, though, she _could_ smile. Ino had forgiven her. She had made things right between them.

"So what's with this… _couture_ food choice?" Ino said, her voice warbling in baritone, a mock haughty gesture.

"Yeah, I mean, those things are both gross enough on their own," Naruto said, poking the capers with his chopsticks. He laughed lightly before asking, "What are you, pregnant?"

Sakura stilled like an animal before a predator, eyes locking on Naruto's grinning face. Then he and Ino froze as well, all three looking between each other in fear before Sakura forced herself to relax, frowning heavily at him.

"Don't even joke," she muttered, a tad vicious, before taking another bite of the cabbage. "A baby in this kind of environment? Ha." The words were only slightly muffed around the ruffage in her mouth.

"But Sakura," Ino interjected warily, eyeballing the food combination.

"It's Kakashi-sensei!" she returned with wide eyes. "This is what's left in the fridge that isn't already spoiled! Since someone ate my ramen already," she added, turning to Naruto with a pointed glare.

"Yikes, calm down," he muttered, holding his hands up in an attempt to appease her. "Here, you can have the broth," he offered, pushing the bowl towards her.

She grimaced, sticking her tongue out and quickly pushed the bowl back to him, frowning even further as he grinned. They needed a subject change quickly, and there were still other questions she had, some more pressing than others.

"What did she- what happened?" she asked, setting the cabbage aside. Ino and Naruto both looked up with compelling expressions. "What happened between us?" she clarified. Naruto looked away, but Ino smirked again. The gesture did not reach her eyes. "What did I do to hurt you?" she tried again.

"Saaa, it's not what you did. It's what you didn't do." Her eyes dropped to the low table, and Sakura watched her poke the capers a few times. Before she could prompt her again, though, the blond sat up straight and smiled at her. "Sasuke came onto me." Her lips quirked. There was much more to the story. "You took his side."

Sakura grimaced, and quickly moved to respond, to tell her that it wasn't her. Then she paused. If her situation had been reversed, if it had been her reality, would she have taken Ino's side? She believed her now, of course, and felt that Sasuke was probably capable of anything. That Sasuke. Not hers.

Before she could organize and clarify her thoughts, Ino spoke, "I understand why you did it." The pinkette frowned outright, shaking her head, but Ino rolled on. "It's just not my nature to put up with bullshit. Not from anyone. Especially when it only endorses what's been done to my friend." She looked up and met the hard stare that Ino gave her. Her eyes darted to Naruto's, but his face was as stern as Ino's.

Nodding, she reached for Ino's hand, and felt it meet hers before halfway. Despite everything that had happened between them, Ino still cared for her. She had never stopped caring for her. The familiar pale fingers reached up and brushed away another teardrop before it could roll to Sakura's chin, and she leaned into the touch, grabbing the other hand. She looked up at her friend and saw that she too was crying.

"Yeesh," she said weakly. "We should be celebrating, not crying. You fixed things."

"Making out is a form of celebration," Naruto interjected.

Sakura was still staring at Ino, who smirked and withdrew enough to wipe at her own face. Her words were still ringing in Sakura's ears. _You fixed things_. She _had_ fixed things between them. She realized then, that she had fixed things with Naruto, too, though in a less direct way. It was clear by the way he was teasing her, making her ramen, protecting her from Sasuke.

She knew what she had to do. If everything was so wrong, she had to make everything right.

* * *

><p>AN: SHANNARO!<p> 


	7. Ever

AN: Hello, my darlings! May I call you darlings? We're getting closer to the end!

* * *

><p>Even from a distance, her hand seals were perfect. He recognized them all, but they were numerous, and their order was not one he could recall seeing before. Another proof of her identity. Sakura would not have hidden the accomplishment of such a high-level illusion from him. After beginning her tutelage under Tsunade, she had spent less time studying genjutsu and more investing in her master's legacy. It was not that she was no longer suited to the skill set, but mastering a technique with so many seals would not have been kept secret from him.<p>

He continued his approach, feeling Yuuhi Kurenai's presence some distance away. Maybe she was supposed to be giving the younger kunoichi a few pointers. Sakura had claimed herself a genjutsu master. It was fair to think she would seek help when help was needed. Then he wondered how little she needed the advice, since the older woman was maintaining such a distance.

His toes scuffed the dirt louder than necessary as he passed the tree line. Sakura paused and dropped her hands before turning to acknowledge his presence. She nodded to him. Then she waited, holding his gaze for a moment before looking away. Her body language said she was still waiting.

Sasuke frowned at her expression. He knew by now that she was anything but indifferent to him. The days since she had been outed as his not-wife had been just as educating as the days since her escape from the hospital.

She was still staying at Naruto's apartment, and seemed to have no intention of leaving, but when they met in the street, she no longer cowered from him. He had made a point of having Team Seven lunch together every day under the thin auspices of maintaining unity. No one bought the excuse, but they all attended with muted enthusiasm. Even Sai, who fascinated Sakura as if she had never seen someone like him, found it in his schedule to attend. She submitted to the artist's normally vexing comments with patience and amusement.

His black eyes continued to gaze on her, waiting for her to turn and face him, waiting for some- _any_thing. Her patience outstripped his these days, an unsettling realization. When it came to matters of the heart, she rarely exercised the patience she had used when they were genin. Not that she had been very patient then, either, but by comparison the twelve-year-old Sakura had been absolutely shy. His wife was rarely shy _or_ patient.

"May I sit?" he asked finally, when he grew tired of waiting. She glanced at him from the corner of her vision. "Just while you practice," he added. Her vibrant green eye continued to stare at him for a moment longer.

Then she sighed, and nodded briskly, keeping her posture and stance. Her hands lifted once more. Sasuke, all but forgotten, took his seat on the ground nearly three meters away from her.

She ran through the seals again, and he felt her chakra flare. He resisted the urge to watch with the sharingan. Even if he did not commit the technique to memory, even if he only used it to figure out what she was doing, he knew that using his family's eyes would have somehow been a violation. Everything else he did these days was.

Whatever the technique was, she was not using it against him. He did not feel himself wrapped up in any unfamiliar illusion, no more than what they had been going through for the past seven days, anyway.

She lowered her hands and stretched her fingers, then lifted them to go through the exercise again.

"What are you learning?" he asked before she could commit to the motions. There was hesitation. Her hands tensed. For a moment he thought she would say nothing at all.

Then, she answered, "I'm not learning. I'm teaching." He blinked in surprise, feeling out Kurenai's presence once more. Was- was she taking a lesson from Sakura? The idea seemed outrageous…

His not-wife's fingers raced through the motions with admirable speed, this time without molding chakra. She turned to him over her shoulder as she dropped her hands again. Her face was no longer passive as she added, "It's the first time in a year I've been able to do anything training-related."

As she allowed the words to sink in, she stared at him with an emotion he could not define. He had hurt her. Not him, but the man she saw when she looked at him. What had happened to her to make her fear him so? What levels of abuse had she been subjected to? As he looked at her face, he thought maybe he did not want to know.

Then her features shifted again, and he saw in her the face of the woman he had fallen in love with, the woman he had married. That was the look that had caught his eye in the first place; her stark resolve, her determination. Right before she had nearly ruptured his appendix. Of course, she'd been aiming for his chest, but he had attempted to dodge, knowing better than to try and block. The memory of how she could literally crush crush him one moment and smile with genuine sweetness and affection in the next… It tugged at his heart painfully.

This time it was he who looked away, his face grim.

"I would never hurt you," he said in, for him, a rush of emotion. He glanced up at her and saw the mistrust in her eyes before memory served him, actual memories, and not the things he could imagine had been done to the woman in front of him. He had hurt her. He had hurt _his_ Sakura, the woman he had married. He had violated her in all of the ways that mattered- abandonment, near-murder.

"Maybe I should say," he tried again, "that it's my intention to never hurt you again." Even with those words, though, he thought of her pained expression while they stood in the kitchen.

"I understand what you mean," she replied before he could dig himself in deeper. She even took a step towards him. "But if you _really_ know who I am, then you probably understand that I've heard those words a hundred times before... Always with a bad ending."

He stared at the ground, unable to think of the right words to say. Words were her strength, and she wasn't even here. She stood in front of him, deserving better than what had been doled out to her, seeing his face as her tormentor, and all he could do was sit here and feel unable to meet her eyes. He could think of nothing to rectify the situation. He could do nothing to make it better.

It was she who took his hand.

Sasuke started. Acting reflexively, he nearly drew away from the woman who had silently knelt in front of him. He remembered himself at the last moment, though, and tightened his fingers gently around her smaller hand. It was warm and familiar beneath his grasp. When he looked up at her, her face was calm. She did not smile, but she was calm. His heart ached in his chest. It was an ache he had not known before.

"But things have been different since I realized this place was different…" she offered, and scooted closer to him.

Sakura had always thrown herself at him, always demanded his affection while giving hers freely. Sometimes too freely. He had never considered there would be a dry spell. He never considered there might be any kind of love loss between them or that she herself might be taken away from him. He had never thought there would be a time when he would miss her so badly.

"May I…" he began, but his voice constricted tightly, cutting his words short. She stared up at him with an easy curiosity, more reminiscent of the woman he knew. Clearing his throat, he tried again, "May I… hold you?"

The question was low, even. He did not want to frighten her away when she was so close. She was so close he could wrap his arms around her without her permission, but he knew it was necessary.

She straightened her posture, releasing his hand as she pulled away from him. Sasuke's mouth tightened, his emotions veiled once more. It was a simple motion, and she was still within touching distance of him, but it was a rejection all the same.

He would not ask again. He would maintain a safe dis-

She dropped into his lap heavily, arms winding around his neck so suddenly that his breath hitched. His own arms tightened around her reflexively, reaching up around her ribs to pull her closer. It was a tight embrace, flush against his chest, but he could do nothing less, not when she had finally acceded to him.

"Sakura…" he breathed, despite himself. He did not realize how tenuous his control had been until she reached for him. The painful knot in his chest finally loosened while his arms tightened. "_Gently_," he reminded himself silently, his hands stroking her shoulder blades with a tenderness he knew she enjoyed.

He had missed this, this presence that had stuck to his side so tightly whenever he had allowed it. Years before, she had made him pay attention to her, banished his loneliness like fighting an enemy nin and had willingly picked up the pieces of himself that he had left strewn in his wake of self-destruction. As he held her, he wondered how he had ever done without her.

"This is what's been missing," she breathed against his ear. "This is how things _should_ be," an unknowing echo of his thoughts.

She pulled away, and he reluctantly let her go. He knew boundaries. If he was going to respect hers, he would have to follow her lead, work through her fears.

But she only remained gone long enough to say goodbye to Kurenai, though, and returned to his side with graceful, even steps. He stood as she approached. When she bridged the distance between them again, it was to wrap both of her arms around his right one tightly. The arm of his strength.

He tried not to start, tried to push down the muscle memory of pulling away at such a public display. When she relaxed her sudden hold and stared up at him with knowing eyes, he found it easier to give in. There was something to be said for acknowledgment. She dropped both hands in favor of one, slipping her grasp into his once more.

This was an easier grip, if no less exhibiting. This he could manage.

"Home?" she asked gently, giving him pause.

"Home?" he returned. _His_ home? _Their_ home? The questions were asked by his eyes, and she smiled gently.

"Home."

When they arrived, she took off her boots at a leisurely pace, fussing with the buckles more than he remembered that time a week ago. Everything about her now was different, from the eyes that gazed shyly at him, to the small smile trying to find its place on her mouth. How had so much changed in such a small span of time?

She accepted the hand he offered and stood from the genkan with flowing ease. The lingering discomfort in her movements was like a bad memory that she shook off with each step.

Gently, she pulled ahead of him, guiding him toward the bedroom they both knew well. As she made to lead him across the threshold, he stopped, holding his arm back just enough to catch her attention. She paused, glancing back over her shoulder. The telling gaze she leveled at him only made him hesitate further.

Barely a week ago she had arrayed herself lewdly on their bed with the expectation, if not desire, for him to take her in a way that just remembering made him uneasy. Had he been even in his darkest days, he could not imagine taking her as her pose had suggested. His brain had not worked that way, did not work that way now. That kind of violation was one he hoped he never understood.

"I don't want this," he said calmly, holding her eyes, willing her to understand. His voice was gruffer than he intended, but she had to know what his words meant. When her gaze turned questioning, he grasped her free hand, holding both of them in his. He averted his own eyes briefly, rallying. "What I mean is, I don't want you to think this is some kind of obligation." He released a slow breath. "I don't want you to do anything you don't want to do."

Sasuke glanced back at her, carefully loosening his hold on her hands. Her response was a slow smile, a slow step backwards as she pulled him along, using the hands that held hers as anchors.

"Okay," she finally vocalized as she turned them. The back of his knees were against the edge of the mattress when she gave him a gentle push. It was not strong enough to knock him down, but then, Sasuke had never done anything he did not want to do. Her expression was solemn as she crawled over him and straddled his waist.

She was in control the entire time. He followed as she directed, verbally and physically, and he only took initiative in small steps. They were both vulnerable, too easy to scare or hurt when trying to be open. She was soft and warm and responsive. He felt like he had been away from her for years instead of days, and he finally understood then the longing that she had felt, the distance between them that she had more than once claimed to try to bridge. She was giving, always giving, regardless of where she was or what she had been through.

After, he lay on his side holding her to his chest, where she had made herself comfortable. There was still plenty of daylight left in the afternoon, golden shafts cutting through the darkly colored space of their bedroom. Neither moved, content to doze. He was, anyway. She spoke almost sooner than he was ready to listen.

"I'll have to go back." Her fingers teased the backs of his hands with gentle brushes, calm and soothing. For all of the things that were different, she still had the power to affect him with her words.

He thought slowly about her statement, careful to control his rapid thoughts, unwilling to blurt out words. What could he say to it? 'No, don't go'? She did not deserve to be there, but someone equally precious (more precious...) to him, who knew him better, and who had stood by him longer, was trapped somewhere in the same horror. His wife certainly did not deserve to be in such a dangerous position, either. He could not ask the woman he had wed to stay, not when it would condemn Sakura to abuse and maliciousness. Yet _here_ was Sakura, lying in his arms. Could he ask her to return to that state, to live out her days, however short they might be, so he could have the sweeter girl he remembered? He already knew his answer.

"I know," he responded finally, truthfully. He felt her chest rise as she took a deep breath. Her heart was racing beneath his hand.

"He'll kill me eventually." The words were solemn, unexaggerated. If anything, they were understated.

They both knew who _he_ was. Sasuke loathed him, loathed that part of him that could sink to such depths. The potential was there, perhaps deeply buried, perhaps not fully cultivated. If he could kill his brother, what stopped him from torturing his wife?

He said nothing, could find no words to match hers, to ease her grief. His arms just held her tighter, pulled her more firmly against him, as if he could somehow manage to keep her safe. In that moment, his helplessness threatened to swallow him. It felt like he had never succeeded in anything remotely important and had-

Sasuke hesitated, leaned forward and placed a kiss against her shoulder, as much to stymie his own grief as anything. Death was not an option. They could not send her away, return her to her own world without some kind of hope for it.

"You'll have to run away," he said calmly, a plan formulating in his mind.

"There's nowhere to go," she answered, her voice terribly soft. Her thin fingers clutched at his forearms. She had resolve in spades, resilience by the ton, but the future was an unknown and terrifying thing. "Danzou controls everything," she added quietly.

He started, unable to hide the surprise in his voice as he asked, "Danzou?"

"Mmhm."

He settled back into the bed, willing his body to relax at the less than pleasant memories from the Kage summit seven years previous.

"I killed him a few years ago," he admitted against the nape of her neck.

"Oh?" she asked with muted surprised. He had expected a stronger reaction, but this Sakura took everything in stride. A strong character trait, but he found it strangely unappealing in the moment.

He hummed an affirmative, feeling oddly comfortable with the steady pace of such a morbid conversation. "That will never happen in my Konoha." He waited for the explanation as to why, unable to imagine a world where he did not loathe the man, loathe his memory. She did not elaborate, though, and as was his new mode of operation, he did not push her.

She could not fight back in the world she knew, not and win, anyway. She could not find sanctuary that would last her. Where she could hide that the Hokage would not recognize her? He himself was Anbu, and he reported directly to Tsunade. Any number of secrets that had been hidden from her could probably be counted on one hand. When he tried to imagine a world ruled by Danzou, the number dropped.

There was only one recourse open to her.

"You'll have to leave the village, then."

A beat.

"I could run," she agreed, quickly enough for him to realize that the thought was not a new one. "I haven't had a mission in nearly two years, but they'd probably still put me on missing-nin status." She took an even breath, her body stilling in his arms as she added, "It would mean death. We'd be found, but better a quick death than this slow course."

He grimaced against her shoulder. The clinical bent to her words, how unafraid she sounded… it was surreal. She seemed so certain that everything would end badly, that she would die. Was that the only end she could see, she could reach for? What had happened to her courage, to her fighting spirit?

His words remained quiet and cautious. The hush that had fallen over them lingered.

"Does Naruto still have friends in Wind? In Lightning?"

"…We've never been to Cloud, but Gaara and Naruto were friends, yes."

"So they could still be friends, right?" he continued.

"Maybe. I don't think they've seen each other in a while. Gaara's the Kazekage now."

A bubble of tension burst in his chest, something like hope taking its place.

"They're friends here too. Good friends. Of course if that idiot could make friends with anyone it would be a homicidal schizophrenic."

"Says you," she quipped.

Both of them froze at the words, though for different reasons. Sakura's shoulders were tense, fearful. It was a dig he would have expected more from Naruto than the Sakura he knew, but even the dissonance he felt did not overwhelm him. The two small words were honest, unafraid. He found himself smiling at her boldness, even if she could not see the expression.

"Touché," he murmured. It was not until he said, "Sand will give you asylum," that he felt her relax again. "I think they would welcome the friend of someone who's saved their Kage." He hoped it would be the case, anyway. Suna might turn her away altogether if there was no merit she could give on her own. If Danzou was Hokage, he could only imagine the military force Konoha would be packing, and Gaara was a young Kazekage, whether at fifteen or twenty-three. If the Fourth Shinobi War had never occurred, tempering and forging the former jinchuuriki into something Kage-worthy, Sand might not be in a position to give aid. He wondered if there might be intel she could sell for her safety, but what position would it put her in to be known as a traitor?

His thoughts were racing when she promptly interrupted them with a calm, "Yes, they would." Her hands resituated over his. "They would also take another jinchuuriki…" His eyes widened, but if she noticed his surprise, she only went on. "I have some ideas about how to go about making an offer as well."

"Naruto would defect as well?" he asked. He felt her hesitation dictated more than her silence.

"Yes."

"Why?" He leaned forward to look at her face. Her expression usually told as much as her words. "I thought that idiot wanted to be Hokage…" She rolled in his arms to spare his neck the awkward angle. Her face was carefully blank. The mask was too perfect. He felt the distance increasing between them once more.

"He'd defect with me because he's in love with me; because he'll never be Hokage in my Konoha."

Sasuke's brow wrinkled, not sure which statement was more surprising. It was well-known that Naruto had had a crush on Sakura when they were younger. Sasuke himself had thought that after joining Orochimaru that there would be nothing standing in the way of the two attaching themselves to one another. Time and priorities had proven otherwise, though.

During their constant chasing, they had been too focused on _him_ to give each other anything besides platonic commitment. They had bonded as friends, and there had always been the reassurance that they would protect one another as teammates, as precious people. Then Naruto, whose feelings had always been the more obvious of the pair, had gradually lost steam under the weight of his other responsibilities- Sage training, overcoming the Kyuubi's influence, and finally fighting Madara. When Sasuke had returned, those responsibilities had not disappeared for a moment. Now he was saddled with a genin team and on a different path.

He watched color rise in her cheeks. Her eyes cut away from him as he considered the possibility of a world where Naruto would not be Hokage. He trusted his friend, the man as close to him as a brother, as much as he loved and trusted Sakura. Of all of the possibilities in his mind, only Naruto could fill the office.

She was still embarrassed, but Sasuke was not upset with her. He had no reason to be, so he remained silent as she continued speaking quietly about the logistics of getting to Sand, escaping from Danzou's reign, from under her husband's thumb. He agreed quietly, pointing out flaws as best he could. She was more of an expert on the subject than he. He could only vaguely relate to the people she described. Lack of understanding hampered his ability to help her in any relevant way. It partly worried him. Mostly he was glad he could not empathize with the man who had terrorized her for years.

"I'm sorry," he said. He tucked his chin against her crown, interrupting her flow of words. He _was_ sorry, too; sorry that she had gone through so much, become such a different woman than the one he knew. Maybe she had never even had the opportunity to become the strong and independent. "I'm sorry for the things I've put you through."

It wasn't just the Sakura wrapped between his arms and legs who deserved the apology.

Haruno Sakura had been hurt by him indirectly more times than he cared to remember, more times than he probably knew, he realized. She bore it all, and tried to knock sense into him at times, tried to mold him into something resembling sociable, less for her and more for him. Yet the entire situation they were facing had begun because of him. His wife was in danger because of him. Whatever problems she was facing, he would never have known about them if his own inaction had not pushed her into taking a mission. His words were as much for her as her doppelganger.

She never snapped over small incidents. Her feelings had to have been building, and wasn't she the one who always tried to work through conflict, whether he wanted it or not? If she had felt there was a problem, she would have addressed it, shoved his face into it and demanded an explanation. He was confident of that much. There was no other explanation. It was his fault.

"I'm sorry for everything…" he reiterated, substituting for the deeper meaning that refused to pass his lips.

She shifted against him, fingers dipping against his clavicle. A slow puff of breath grazed his neck as she sighed. Her lips pressed the same spot as her fingers and he felt a small smile curve there.

"You've never hurt me."

Pain was in her voice, buried beneath the reassurance. She had not dismissed, forgiven, the one who wore his face. The other him who had very well hurt her; but she remained silent and it was beyond him to say anything else on the subject.

He changed tacks, opening his arms to release her. There was still daylight in the sky. Time was getting away from them. His Sakura was surely suffering.

"We should tell Naruto soon."

"Wait," she interrupted. Her arm grabbed his as he made to sit up. He hesitated and slowly looked down to her. She was smiling up at him, but quickly looked away, her grip loosening. "Can we… just stay here? Just for a bit longer?"

Sakura was waiting.

But she was right here.

He silently lay back down on the sheets and she wordlessly burrowed back into his arms.

"All right," he acquiesced, and found it was not such a hard decision to make after all.

His wife was making plans too.

* * *

><p>"So the Rain nin was making a seal like this," she said, mimicking the twisted fingers against her forehead. Kakashi, Ino, and Naruto all looked on intently.<p>

Her teacher had returned to his apartment to see the three of them camped in front of his couch. As with most things, if he had been surprised it had not shown. Only after making himself a quick sandwich had he joined them, and then the quartet had begun to plan in earnest.

"It was a one-hand seal, but I still felt the chakra behind it. Then I woke up here." The shrug that followed her statement was involuntary, and she wondered briefly if it might undermine her. The others did not seem to think worse of her for it, though.

"I've seen single hand seals before," Kakashi began, sandwich gone and mask still securely in place. Another similarity to mark. "But what you're describing, I've never encountered."

"A thousand techniques," Sakura snarked, "but not a single thing like this?" His eye quirked into a small crescent, followed by a mild shrug from his shoulders. Sakura sighed and looked to the others.

"Me either," Ino agreed, and Naruto shook his head. The pretty blond pouted as her thoughts rolled on. Then she added, "but it sounds like a mind-body transfer technique, hmm?" Sakura nodded, ready to confirm, when Kakashi spoke again.

"The result is what's important, regardless of what it _sounds_ like," he said with a sigh. The trio frowned, and Sakura felt the frustration in the room mounting.

In her Konoha, there would have at least been resources available to them for research. Tsunade would probably have been spearheading the effort to find a solution, or at least put some of her best and brightest to the task. It was clear that the three in front of her did not think that would be the cast.

It was Naruto who, through a growl asked, "Well where does that leave us? We don't know anything about the technique…" Sakura turned to him, her own frown dissipating into something more concerned as she watched him scowl. He seemed to be taking this even harder than she was. "…And we don't know anyone who can so anything about it!"

Neither Ino nor Kakashi contradicted the statement. Danzou might have helped them, might have encouraged them in some way. The man was not totally heartless, and he had made it clear that he really did have the Leaf's best interests at heart. Their problem lay in the fact that Sasuke was currently on the warpath, and Danzou listened to Sasuke- certainly more than he would ever listen to any of them.

"That might not be entirely accurate," Sakura offered at length, contradicting Naruto's assertion. The three turned to her, and she tried to smile. It came out more like a grimace.

There was another option. There were numerous other options, not all of them legal. Not all of them sane. How far was she willing to go to get home? How far would they be willing to go with her?

Briefly she thought of her husband and a desperate, burdensome quest…

Her growing discomfort was almost tangible, but she managed a determined stare when she looked up to them again. Apparently, she was pretty determined.

"Are the Akatsuki still active?"

They did not immediately verbally flay her for her intention, which she took as a good sign. Ino and Naruto blinked at her, as if not entirely understanding the question. Well, good. If they were not following her train of thought then it was not an outright 'no'.

"They're subtle." Kakashi. Her eyes turned to him quickly. "They've only taken small actions, enough to get noticed. They _are_ around, though, if that's what you're asking." It was. His dark eye was neither lazy nor placid as he held her gaze, probably already three steps ahead of her plan. Her insane, suicidal plan.

"I have some ideas," she said, holding his concerned gaze for only a moment longer. When she turned to Naruto and Ino, she was smiling again. "I have some very, very _bad_ ideas."

* * *

><p>AN: That last part with Sasuke and the meek-Sakura was kind of hard to write. Some people might think Sasuke's OOC. I don't. Well, maybe I should say I think he's conveniently passed through a period of time where he's come to genuinely love Sakura. Most of the time he doesn't need to be anyone other than who he is (selfish and aloof) but if push comes to shove, he can do what is necessary for her- i.e. suck up his pride and be a little sensitive. Actually, it wasn't really overtly lovey, anyway. Most of what he was feeling didn't get expressed, which is probably right on the money for Sasuke. As for him being a problem-solver, also right on the money. He was just a little softer in doing it.<p>

I've caught up with the chapters I had written (sorry, I haven't written much in the past month!) but I'm almost done with the next one, and after that it should be easy peasy.

Thank you, as always for reading. **Please take another minute to review :) You can tell me what you like, don't like, hate, love, etc.** Thank you!


	8. Know

AN: Hey friends, hopefully you're still here. Morbid curiosity wins out! Well, I wrote a response to a lot of the reviews that you guys gave for the last chapter. If you'd rather not read the long review, I'll summarize here: thank you! Thank you for all of your thoughtful, candid reviews. If you would like to read some longer exposition, check my LJ link in my bio.

If you've stuck out this long, my hope is that you'll stay 'til the end. It's gonna be heavy.

* * *

><p>The sun was beginning to set over the rooftops when she left Kakashi's apartment. Beautiful pinks and violets tinged the sky in a pleasant way that starkly contrasted her feelings. The temperature was beginning to cool dramatically. On any other day, she would have stopped to enjoy it.<p>

She walked alone and empty-handed, dry-washing her digits. Packages and baggage would arouse suspicion, and there was too much of that already. Exactly how many people had seen her punch Sasuke? Enough to alert Ino… and if Ino knew, others were sure to as well.

"_We're going to need a few extra supplies," she informed her careful, wary audience. "Unfortunately, I don't have them at the house. Besides clothes, I don't have much of anything." She laughed lightly. "Nothing ninja functional, anyway." When Ino and Naruto rolled their eyes at her tone, Sakura only smiled and tried not to think of the implications too much. They had to stay focused. "Ino, if it's possible, do you think-"_

"_Seriously?" the blond interrupted her sharply. Sakura stared at her with wide eyes, ready for another verbal flailing. Then the blond sighed. "I'm so used to you taking all of my stuff, I don't even know why you bother asking anymore," she snarked. A smirk belied her tone. Sakura smiled. Yes, of course, all of the many things she had borrowed. When she and her best friend had not even been on speaking terms for months- years, maybe?_

_Her smile persisted as she gave the unnecessary, "Thank you." Ino nodded, some of her levity dissipating in light of their plan, in light of Sakura's own seriousness. "If your family has half of the plants I remember, that'll be plenty."_

"_Tsk," she answered, trying to maintain emotional control the way she knew best. "You of little faith."_

Pedestrians were coming fewer and farther between as she edged away from the center of the Village. The back streets were always more isolated, less populated. Many times it gave her solace, comforted her after hours of patients and other medics, but today it just drew attention to the task ahead of her.

Her husband had hit her. The very day before, he had struck her the way he would strike an enemy. Not his wife. And then of all things, he had kissed her. She wondered briefly if he had given Itachi, the man he adored above all others, a brotherly kiss after he had killed him, but the thought would not bearing dwelling. She was not Itachi.

Sasuke had known from the start that she loved him, and the years had only illustrated just how much. One strike against her was not going to stop her from loving him. She recognized and then accepted the sabotaging memories of contusions and old bruises. Her steps were slowing unconsciously, and she picked up her pace once more. His temper must have cooled from the few hours before. She was counting on it. She was in love with him, and she knew he loved her. She was counting on that, too. Either way, she would never give up.

"_This is a bad idea," Naruto interjected into the heavy silence._

"_Don't do it," Ino spoke flatly._

"_It's an unnecessary risk," Kakashi added, capping their arguments._

_Sakura paused. Her mouth opened to say something. Then she closed it with a slight click. She could not help but admire them for their tenacity, for their continued concern, but she knew the risk she was putting forward, and she knew with all of her heart that it needed to be done._

"_I know it's risky," she replied, more easily than she realized. "But I don't plan on staying." She ignored the sudden fluttering in her heart. "I have to find a way back to my world, and bring the Sakura you all know back here. I'm not the same woman he knows. I'm not the same woman any of you know," she added, giving them all a pointed look._

_In their own way, each of them pulled away from her at that. Kakashi's eye shifted. Ino's smile faded. Naruto pulled back, pretending to rearrange his seat. It was painful, but true. She was not the friend that any of them knew, just a different facet of her that had been magnified and enlarged. She hoped that they enjoyed what they saw, but in the end it was not their true friend._

"_I have to speak to him," she said. And that was that._

The outskirts of her home district were different than she remembered, than she _knew_ them to be. More of the buildings had been repaired. In her Konoha, Itachi's victims had not gone down without a fight. The broken shoji and shutters had remained untouched for years. Either in silent homage to the fallen, or just due to the lack of time, Sakura did not know. Here, those excuses had not lingered. None of the old homes and storefronts were damaged or vandalized in the slightest. It did not spare them from a different kind of neglect.

She knew Itachi had slaughtered the Uchiha people in this world. Else, why would Sasuke have berated his name as a traitor? What else was the same, and what else was different?

Yet for all of the scars these edifices managed to hide, they were still empty. There outsides were dirty and dingy, the white-washed graves that could not entirely hide clinging despair.

It was a similar despair that rebounded against the edges of her resolve. She could not sit idly by. She could not change the course of her future so drastically without _trying_ to reach Sasuke. If he would allow it. It was not even her future she was salvaging, but that of another woman. That made the attempt all the more important.

She called a subdued "Tadaima," as she stepped into the genkan, not even bothering to remove her shoes. The house was dark; no shoes next to her own to tell of another presence. Her senses extended, reaching for the familiar cool chakra of her husband.

The house was empty.

Sasuke was still out on a mission, maybe a fresh one from Danzou that very morning. That morning when she was sleeping in Naruto's apartment, dreaming of someone very different, millions of years and a stone's throw away.

She sighed as she stepped up to the dark hardwood floor. The tension in her shoulders relaxed slightly, even as she realized she would not be able to say goodbye. She could not wait the time it would take him to arrive home.

It was easy enough to pack a bag with clothes and the few supplies of his she managed to find. Years of practice and the knowledge that he used some of the same hiding places her husband did facilitated the effort. In the closet, beneath the tatami where she normally kept her ceremonial battle axe. The axe was gone, but the tatami remained, and beneath it she found shuriken and filament. Beneath the tatami. Slightly predictable; not that she was not grateful.

She could not help feel déjà vu. Barely a week ago she had packed a similar bag in a similar fashion. All of her actions were wrapped in secrecy and silent deceit and need. It was not the way things were supposed to be.

The family shrine was in exactly the same place it had always been, still reflecting this world of smoke and mirrors. It was clean, freshly dusted and swept. A stick of half-burned incense rested on the altar. Someone was making use of the space with some frequency, then.

Beneath the telltale tatami, she found the secret space. It must have been second nature for ninja clans to have so many hidden crawl spaces. This one had never been very secret. Sasuke mentioned once that he had found it, been led to it, before they had even been placed on the same team. Sakura was simply the latest in a long line of people to access it.

It was not the space itself that was of interest, but the scroll that lay on a shallow table just beyond the stairs. Thin light from the shrine, trickling in from the evening sun, barely illuminated the room, but much light was not necessary. Clearly written on the end of the scroll's dowel was the character for 'ten thousand.'

Man.

Mangekyou.

Kaleidoscope. Lies turned and woven around themselves until the truth became something both ugly and beautiful. How horrifyingly appropriate.

The scroll was one of the darker ones that belonged to the clan, the family she had married into. Her family.

She absolutely ignored whatever implications she might draw from its dusty visage, instead grabbing it and tucking it into the bag at her back. She could draw no more value from what it held than she could wield Kyuubi chakra. Without special eyes, it was a bargaining chip and nothing more.

She was replacing the large bamboo mat in the rapidly darkening room, single-mindedly engaged in her task before she realized she was not alone. A candle flickering on the edge of her perception, his presence registered just as she turned. He was sitting on a windowsill between her and the door. He had come in between the time she had first moved the mat and grabbed the scroll, and she had not felt him at all. She had let down her guard again, even when she had promised herself not to.

Sakura was still kneeling when she turned her face to him, keeping her emotions in check. His face was calm, and that helped. But the longer she stared at him, the more she realized she could feel nothing from him. There was no killing intent, but there was no compassion either. No interest. No love. His emotions were tightly guarded. He simply stared out into the grounds, one hand in his lap, his posture almost slouchy.

Almost.

"Where are you going?" he asked without looking at her, the movement of his mouth hidden. She twitched in surprise. He was so rarely the first to speak.

The voice that shaped the words was cool and calm, but unlike her husband's. The contrast was strong enough to remind her that the man in front of her was not the one she had married. Same shell. Different substance. It gave her strength and focus, both of which were shaken when he turned to her with a beatific smile.

"Nowhere of consequence," she managed to say as she climbed to her feet. Her fingers nonchalantly brushed her thighs, wiping away dust. The lie was heavy between them, and the smile he gave her faltered.

More than when he had broken her nose, that small shift in his expression gave her awareness a jolt. His expression had always communicated as much as his words, sometimes more. With the faded smile, the atmosphere shifted to something less easy. Her friends had been afraid for her safety. She had shushed their concerns without much appreciation for them. For the first time she wondered if this was more of a risk than she had originally considered.

Sasuke smirked at her, but remained seated. "You never could lie to me," he replied calmly, assuredly. That much was true.

"I never had to before," she bluffed. He glanced back to the grounds, apparently comfortable with her answer. She did not follow his eyes, but watched him. Always she watched him. She could not trust his misleading glances. Hadn't he kissed her while blood flowed down her face? What had he done while giving her the beating that led to bruising against her skull, and the time she had woken up in the hospital? Cold anxiety wrapped around her heart, holding precariously.

"So where have you been?" he asked.

"I got lost on the road of life," she answered breathily, sounding braver than she felt. She could not help thinking about the time spent in the apartments of her other two teammates. He did quirk a brow at this response, turning to her with a mildly annoyed expression.

"Kakashi's?"

"It's a long road," she cheeked, neither admitting nor denying.

His laughter puffed in a short breath as he rose to his feet. He turned his head to her fully, smiling gently, and as she watched his eyes, his dangerous eyes, he appeared right in front of her. The flash step startled her, eyes widening as she immediately tried to distance herself from him.

His hands were as fast as his feet, though, and grabbed her wrists. She had not forgotten his speed, but it was becoming clear that she had miscalculated his inclination to use it against her.

He was unyielding, iron manacles, restricting her wrists and arms as well. She winced as he smiled down at her, pulling her toward him. They both knew who was stronger, but his motions were not about strength. The flesh manacles were hot, and wore painfully at her bones.

When he dropped his head and ground his lips against hers he pulled her flush against him, almost twisting her limbs behind him. It was an attack against affection, rough and sloppy. Sakura tried to twist away from him, but he held her tightly in place, demanding her submission. The kiss was not loving. Not meant to be. All he wanted from her was control. She thought of the hospital, how tender he had been, and then at home in their bed. If he was so horrible, what had been his motivation then? Why bother being gentle at all? It was too confusing, and confusion hurt as much as violation.

He pulled away moments after he had satiated himself and said quietly, "I'm not in the mood for sass." Sakura took a deep breath and glared up at him. His eyes were so beautiful, so beautiful and distant. Her lips were wet and chafing from his assault. The fingers around her heart squeezed as tightly as those around her wrist. The betrayal was an agonizing shard in her skin, twisting with every insistent press of his mouth.

"What happened to you?" she demanded. "_Why_ are you acting this way?"

Sasuke smirked. She imagined his thoughts, tried to imagine what answer could possibly justify why he would treat her this way, or the other her. Didn't he love her, even if it was in a quiet and steady way, and not always (or ever) shouting it to the heavens?

Instead of answering, he dipped his head again. Sakura scowled as she turned her head away forcefully, channeling chakra to her wrists. When she jerked the next time, she broke free and quickly put the length of a tatami between them. He was right there, though, following to grab the arm that was meant to hold him at bay.

This was _not_ what was supposed to happen. He was supposed to talk to her, to answer her questions, to explain what was going on through his head. It was right that he did not want to talk. That she could understand. It was wrong that he did not even try. He did not want to do anything that would not serve himself.

The struggle was part of her now, pained though she was. Chakra and strength sprang to her aid once more, and she made to pull away again. She liberated one of her wrists, but quickly realized it was not by her will. Sasuke's free hand swatted her face like striking a fly- a massive contract-summoned nin-fly. Her head rocketed with the movement, and she would have lost her footing had it not been for the tight hold he kept on her other wrist.

"I don't answer to my wife," Sasuke explained lowly. His words were a dark bolt of unwinding silk, poised to strangle her. "I'm your master. _You_ do as _I_ say."

The manacle pulled her to him again, her hand gripping his chest restlessly to steady her body. There were still spots dancing in vision, turning his face into a violent kaleidoscope of skin and sparkles.

She felt his mouth on hers again and his tongue flicked suddenly over a tender, stinging spot on her lip. She grimaced, tasting blood. Her blood. Disgust rolled in her stomach.

Control of the situation seemed to be slipping away from her. "_Wait_," Inner Sakura murmured in the back of her mind. "_Just another minute and everything will be okay_." But danger pressed, and survival reflex answered. Her fingers clenched against his pectoral as chakra flared in them. The energy condensed and edged sharply, an invisible scalpel surrounding her fingers. Sakura pressed hard again and felt the bone shift beneath her fingers as it separated.

This time it was Sasuke who pushed her away with a pained grunt. She held her footing this time, sliding against the smooth matting as he grabbed at the wound. His face was a mask of cold rage and disbelief. There was no vindication in the small victory, though. He had not forgotten that it was she who had struck him down like a ragdoll. He would never again forget that she had strength in her, strength that could match his, if necessary.

The pale skin was unbroken, but she could see it reddening between his fingers as it began to the process of bruising. The pain was incredible, she knew. Any other ninja would have hesitated, not him. He was used to pain and had exhausted any hesitation he might have had.

He slid forward, utilizing his speed again. She grunted at the sudden movement and made to jump, but he got there first. Her feet jerked out from under her with his kick, her body hitting the tightly woven fibers with a crunch. It was not a hard kick, not the strength she had imagined, but it still hurt. It was not quite as painful as the kick he followed up to her stomach, though.

She gasped, rolling inward to protect the wounded area and was almost too dazed to feel the hand burrowing against her scalp. She definitely felt her face being shoved into the bamboo. She barely noticed the separation from the floor before he slammed her head back into the floor. The concrete beneath the tatami was unforgiving.

"This is your fault!" he assured her angrily. His voice was still so calm, at odds with the expression she managed to steal a glimpse of. It was all dark velvet and silk, smooth and rich. How was this possible?

Her hands rolled tighter against her midsection while stars arabesqued in front of her eyes, zigging and zagging distractingly. "Why," he demanded, "do you feel the need to put yourself in this position? Why do you make me punish you?"

It was poison to ponder those words, to edge anywhere near his line of reasoning. Muddled, brain-addled thoughts slipped into her consciousness. Whatever the reason, none of this was her fault. Had the other Sakura succumbed to the twin sicknesses of guilt and shame? She knew of such women, stowing into the hospital at late hours for secrecy and protection. She had never planned to become one of them. She would not become one of them. She just needed a few more seconds…

The fingers slipped out of her hair as Sasuke placed a hand on the small of her back, but she barely registered the disgusted scowl on his face. She had done nothing but love him. He smoothed his hair, before brushing his fingers over his severed clavicle, the same bone she had laved with her lips nights before. Nothing would ever justify his actions.

She felt growing pressure against her back.

Horrified anticipation pierced understanding straight to the front of her brain.

"You'll hurt the baby!" she shouted, gasping.

The hand at her back stilled, still heavy, and her eyes rolled to her peripheral vision to gauge his understanding. Her breath rolled heavily with the sudden adrenaline in her system. The brain fog from his last attack was still there, threatening to cloud her thinking again. "If you do much else, you'll hurt the baby," she reiterated, anchoring her thoughts as much as his.

Neither of them moved for a long moment. He continued to stare down at her, confused, alarmed. His eyes were hard. It was an expression she had seen from him on more than one occasion in Team Seven's early days, but that had been a long time ago.

She inhaled slowly, unsure, but desperate to move. The breath cleared her head just a bit more, and she rolled slowly onto her back. She made no move to free herself from him. Not yet. His hand grazed her skin, still ready to restrain her if she should give him a chance.

Was this safe? Would her actions provoke him? She did not know this man from any stranger on the street, except to know that if strangers were possibly harmless and he most certainly was not. But she was running out of options, her control of the situation tenuous at best. The time for waiting was quickly coming to an end.

Sakura stared up at him with wide eyes, and carefully, gingerly, wrapped her fingers around his. Her gaze held his as she pulled his hand down to her abdomen. This was not safe. She was gambling with more than one life now, and neither of them belonged to her.

And yet that was not entirely true, never had been. How could she fully disassociate herself from everything that was happening? When she looked in the mirror she saw the face she had seen every day from birth. When she looked at the man above her, she saw the face of the one she had loved since a small child.

It was with controlled terror that she pressed his hand lightly against the fabric of her clothes. Just beneath was her womb, and his eyes shifted to the mingled fingers pressed there.

All over again it was a different touch, a graze demanding its own catalogue in the directory that belonged to Sasuke. She could not understand the pathways in his mind that led to each caress, but she was glad that this one was gentle, hesitant.

Shousen lit her fingers with the color of new spring, and Sasuke stared as her hand crimped over his. The chakra soaked into his skin, guiding and informing his senses the same way it did hers, and then…

There it was.

Sasuke's gasp was so genuine and innocent to almost put her mind at ease. Even his expression was something she knew, something familiar.

"Guard up," Inner Sakura intoned, merciless.

She could not help but smile, though, as she too felt the small flicker of life she had felt a week before in front of the mirror. The understanding that she was not alone, that the body growing inside of hers was healthy and well, had been enough to calm her despite those ambiguous injuries. She could no longer be ignorant of what they had meant. What they meant now.

His eyes were wide as he stared at their hands. His face rippled and blurred the longer she stared at him, overcome with emotion. She was supposed to be happy. _They_ were supposed to be happy. Both of them had wanted this for a long time, but it was never meant to happen this way. Their baby was supposed to be safe from everyone, never exposed to danger, least of all from his parents. Reality of the situation stole any happiness she might have otherwise felt.

There was a shift in his eyes.

His hand did not move, but he turned his gaze on her and said waspishly, "This is a trick, right? How do I even know it's mine?"

She stilled, feeling that niggling shard in her shift into something aching. For all of the confusion and pain she had felt over the past two days, this was something that completely floored her. He had been the one to leave her when they had not yet been teenagers. He was the one who had always pushed her away. She was the one who had clung to him, to his memory, to the hope of what they could be in the future, the one who always chased _him_. It was Sakura who had always been faithful. How _dare _he question her commitment?

She was snarling as the words tumbled over each other rapidly, "I have never cheated on you, you- you _depraved_ asshole!" Sasuke smirked at her rage and she exhaled slowly. "Not in my heart, and certainly not in my body."

"That's a pretty unconvincing argument, considering you spent last night with another man."

Her hand lashed out almost on its own, full of chakra and demanding justice. It was a breath away from his face when he caught it, still kneeling over her. She scowled at him angrily, causing him to smile. "I'm not going to let you hit me like that again." The memory of him flipping head over heels into the dango stand was suddenly satisfying. He pulled the offending hand to his mouth and licked its palm quickly, a reprimand and a reminder. Sasuke knew who was in control.

His hand trembled suddenly and he turned his head to look at the quivering limb. Sakura smirked unhappily, drawing attention to her face.

Rather, he thought he knew who was in control.

Her breath stilled as the weight of his body against her thigh suddenly slumped. She allowed him the tenuous hold on her hand, the subjugation of her body. Her wait was over.

Sasuke's head bobbed tremulously, and he shook it to try and clear his blurring vision. Then he stilled, his eyes focusing down on her prone form. The hand holding her wrist clenched again, but the strength was gone from it. Sakura felt a hollow victory as their eyes met.

Without warning Sasuke slumped forward completely. His legs were long next to hers. Under different circumstances his torso's weight would have been pleasant, but now it was nearly suffocating.

It was light work to roll his body off of hers, and suddenly the only sound in the room was her panting breath and the crunching tatami. She sighed as she sat up, fully extricating herself from his grasping fingers. Panic receded, allowing her to feel the other injuries in her body. Her wrists, her lip, her stomach- too close to her abdomen to let fear fully abate. The proximity of his kick caused her to scowl as she looked down at him.

Sakura stood shakily, adrenaline making her body feel light and empty. His eyes followed her tightly, but his body remained as still as a corpse. It would be unresponsive to his commands for hours. She sighed slowly and glanced down at his eyes.

Immediately they sparked from black to sharingan red, but Sakura's guard was up and not coming back down. Her eyes shifted away before he could initiate doujutsu. The threat for that had passed when he had dared to think himself in control of their encounter. He would never lower himself to use higher techniques against an opponent he could defeat with little to no taijutsu. "You probably should have married someone more formidable," she thought aloud, all sarcasm.

The sardonic thought was comforting only for a second. Then it became painful, too battered against reality and possibility to bolster her satisfaction. Had he loved her in the beginning, at least? Before she had become someone he could control and abuse, someone truly too weak to fight back? It was too much to consider now.

She continued to avert her eyes as she said, "I didn't want it to be this way." Slowly, aware of the injuries she had yet to heal, and maybe some she was not yet aware of, she reached for her bag. "I deserve better than this. _Our child_ deserves better than this." The straps slipped over her shoulders as she stared at the door. "I'm going to make sure he gets it."

Her fingers slipped into her pocket and closed around a small round object. Then she stepped to the window, the very window he had been sitting in just minutes before. She removed the contents from her pocket and set it in the still. The white pill was almost innocuous, glowing as it caught the last light of day.

"Be sure to take this for the residual poison," she prescribed. "Otherwise, even by the time you can move again, you'll have problems for a few days."

Sakura stepped away from the window and over to his body. She closed her eyes tightly as she stepped to straddle his body. Slow, careful movements lowered her until she was blindly sitting on his stomach. It was she who was mocking now, but all she could think of was how badly she wanted their situation to be different. How much she wanted to coerce him into this kind of scenario for play, for love, not for fear.

She leaned forward and pressed her lips against his. She kissed him the way he should have kissed her. Another impossibly thin layer of poison coated his lips.

At the door she hesitated long enough to say, "You'll be all right in time for your morning mission. Between now and then, you should probably think about what you've done." Her hand held the frame as she turned away from him completely. He would have been immune to tears, anyway. "I love you."

She did not stop until she was once more standing in front of the not-dilapidated Uchiha buildings just at the edge of her home district. Only then did she turn to look back. The roof of her home was just visible, and only because she knew where to look. She could see none of its walls. She could not feel Sasuke's chakra following her. Her fingers passed over her split lip, binding the skin back together and clearing it of blood in the same motion.

Where had this come from, the ability to push through the inevitable and do what needed to be done? Everything she had experienced up to this point was still as scary as it had been in the moment, including Sasuke's attacks against her. She did not think she would ever fully accept what had happened. How could she so callously relinquish the hold over her heart? She had willingly given it to him before she had fully realized what that meant.

She had accepted enough, though. She understood enough. This was not really her life, anymore than it was Ino's or Hinata's or Tsunade's. She was in a position to help this Sakura, this girl who had accepted different circumstances, and, for whatever reason, had yet to escape them. She only hoped that when they both made it home, the girl would not return to Konoha.

When she arrived at Kakashi's apartment again, she did not even have to knock. Naruto threw it open with a wide smile on his face, too wide to be aware of what she had been doing for the past hours. It was also obvious as he enthusiastically ushered her in, he had continued to question her resolve, even after she had promised she would not stay behind. She would not, could not, stay with Sasuke.

She mirrored his smile as she stepped inside, only to have him impede her with a hand on her shoulder. Glancing up at him, she nearly flinched as his hand brushed over her jaw. Wincing, she wondered if she had missed all of the blood from her lip. Then he pulled his fingers back, showing only tear drops.

Sakura chuckled weakly and wiped away the evidence with contradictory roughness. Under his gaze, she laughed once, protectively. With the same hand she pushed his hand away.

"Don't do that," she said before putting some distance between them.

Naruto's hurt was openly visible for all of a second, then he grinned down at her, tucking his hands behind his head. His eyes were squinting so tightly that she could almost feel his pain. Her heart tightened just a bit more. It was the promise of a lifetime all over again.

She nodded, straightening her spine, grateful she no longer had to smile. Naruto understood. Kakashi, bless him, chose that moment to announce his presence from the kitchen.

"How did everything go?" he asked, rubbing a dish towel over the ramen bowl his blond student had used hours ago. His dark eye regarded her with misleading apathy. She nodded again, much like she had to Naruto. Her hands tightened on the straps of her bag. There was even less time now that night had fallen.

"Fine," she answered evenly. "Everything was… fine."

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><p>Once they were a few rooftops away from Kakashi's apartment, Sakura turned to regard Naruto again. He had been faithful to her request. The distance between them was more emotional than physical. Still, he ran along side her, allowing her to set the pace. It would be a long run for them, and her chakra stores had not improved during the tempestuous week. When had there been time for real training? No doubt they would be depleted in the course of a few days of running, emotional trauma not withstanding.<p>

"Hey," she called as they crossed the distance between two rooftops. Neither bothered to check as they landed, the landscape as familiar as each other's faces. He gave her a curious look. "Are you sure about this?"

"You're asking _now_?" he shot back, only half teasing. She frowned.

"I'm serious." It was strange how just the amused curl of his mouth and the lilt of his tone could make her completely forget who he was. Who he was not. "Leaving everything, being Hokage… are you sure this is what you want?"

He gave her a long stare. At the next landing, he glanced away from her and gave a slightly quicker lift off. She expelled a burst of energy to keep up with him.

"You ask so innocently. It makes me realize even more that you're not the Sakura-chan I know. She would know better than to ask, or to consider even. The Hidden Village of Konoha is too confined, too controlled. I'd never make it here." He spoke the words evenly, as factually as if they had been ground into him with hand seals, but then he had always been an experiential learner. "As if I'm thriving now," he muttered. She was not sure if she was meant to hear his words or not.

Sakura frowned, unsure of what else to say. But, like always, he knew how to comfort her. "I'm glad I have a chance where you're from. In a way that's as satisfying as anything."

She nodded, and they ran the rest of the way in silence. Just shells, just hollow houses of false memories. These were not her friends. The sooner she got out of here, the faster she would be home.

So she told herself.

They landed in front of the still-open gates, a few meters away from the beckoning presence of liberty. A rush of new energy pushed her weariness down. Freedom was getting closer. Home was getting closer.

Kakashi was already standing there, out of hearing distance of Kotetsu and Izumo. The two chuunin did not seem particularly interested in any of them, come to think of it. She looked at them, Kotetsu who was asleep against the countertop, and Izumo who was reading some pulp anthology. Their apathy suddenly seemed indicative of so much more, an echo of sentiment that she had only glimpsed in the village. Ino's mother's distance, Sai's- Kara's refusal to acknowledge her… Konoha felt more sinister than comforting now, and she was relieved to be leaving, if not entirely happy.

She turned to her teacher, digging her fingers tighter around her backpack straps.

"Come with us," she offered suddenly, pleaded. His posture straightened under her words, and she quickly rolled on. "Life's going to be better out of this place. What Konoha has become."

She turned to Naruto, who nodded his agreement. When she turned back to their teacher, he was smiling at her, his hands shoved deep in his pockets. His posture was back to its slouchy standard.

"It wasn't always like this you know," he said lowly. "Konoha will always have its ups and downs. Someone will need to be here to pick up the pieces… when they finally fall. Someone will need to be here to take you back in should you return." He smiled at them both then. Something promising, hopeful.

She wanted to say something to him, something he would understand and acknowledge. Naruto grinned at him, and Kakashi nodded. All she could do was think about how she could not think of anything appropriate at all.

"Sensei," she murmured. "I-" Say something! His singular dark eyes regarded her intently. "Thank you," she finished lamely. He smiled. Their goodbye felt woefully incomplete.

"Of course, Sakura," he said evenly. The same as always.

The surge of disappointment she felt was heavy. She tucked it in line with the other sources of sadness grieving her. A watery smile, a nod, and Kakashi nodded once more.

"Ino's not coming?" Kakashi asked, glancing back towards his apartment.

"She needs to be able to say she didn't see us leaving," Sakura said, trying to be inconspicuous with her sniffling.

"Good thing you don't care, eh Sensei?" Naruto snarked, grinning his normal grin.

Kakashi smiled beneath his mask, "You two better get going. The sooner, the better."

The trio caught sight of Izumo's eye glancing up at his words. Before any of them could react, he slowly flipped a page in his book and settled deeper into his chair.

* * *

><p>Ra-ra-ra-raising the stakes!<p>

Please review, guys. Let me know what works for you and what doesn't. Many thanks :)


	9. Is

Woohoo! New chapter! Notes about the chapter, the long interim between updates, and big-big-big thank yous in my profile. Onward!

* * *

><p>The forest was as dark as it had ever been, and she had spent countless nights in transit in its depths for comparison. It was not the arboreal highway that bothered her, the sinister air it exuded, especially at night, but rather, an unearthly quiet that surrounded them. She felt nervous as she laid out her bedroll.<p>

Even with his knowing eye, Izumo had not stopped them. Kotetsu had slept on obliviously, or made a good show of sleeping. For all their apathy, apparently they were still protectors of the Will of Fire.

Once again, it was Sakura who had set their pace, even to the point of stopping for the night, more for practicality than urgency. Naruto did not know their exact destination. Of course, any Leaf nin knew how to get to Rain Village. But once there, it would be up to her to lead. It was easier to take lead from the start. Before too much travel, though, they needed rest. She knew her limits, and she knew if they pressed much further, she would break.

"This whole escape seems a little easy," she murmured, venting concern.

"That's because no one cares that we're gone," he answered with the same volume. There was levity in his quiet, though, something broaching chipper. Perky, even.

She sighed, and then muttered, "I'm glad you're confident." With a quick glance, she found him grinning. Tanned fingers were nimbly tucking his blanket into his bedroll, thoughts far from their campsite.

Her annoyed judgment eased. How many years had he felt confined and stifled in the village she thought of as home, grounding his dreams before they could take flight?

"Well, it's been this way since we were genin." He snorted. "Or chuunin at any rate…"

No fire marked their campsite. Easy as their escape was, and Sakura was only half-convinced that they were not being followed, neither wanted to tempt fate with such an easy signal.

Her thin mat was calling her name, and she stretched out before dropping onto it gently. Almost unconsciously her fingers laced together over her abdomen; a casual pose, but quietly analytical just the same. Yes, far too close to breaking.

Naruto dropped onto his mat and mimicked her pose. In the dark, his hair looked like a torch light. He closed his eyes and was asleep almost instantly.

Sakura sighed gently and turned her eyes skyward. She was more tired than she had been in months. When she thought about her teammates, her emotions felt as tightly stretched as tripwire. Everything that had happened over the past few days, waking in the hospital, and the revelation that her injuries had worse origins than she could have imagined… Then Naruto and Ino rejecting her, only to embrace her all over again. It had been a roller coaster of the worst kind, and she was still riding it.

Thinking about Sasuke was even worse.

All she had to do was close her eyes and she could see him smiling softly at her. The husband she knew and the one she had endured. When she thought of him, thought of what was at stake, and what she was about to attempt, everything seemed far beyond reach. That soft smile wanted to guide her, a painfully bright light on a dark horizon.

When she opened her eyes, the smile had faded, but Sasuke's face lingered. She blinked slowly, but still his face did not disappear. He stood above her pale and stoic.

"Sasuke-kun?" she asked sleepily.

He was on her before she could roll out of the way, two hands gripping her throat. Groggy sleep disappeared like smoke in the wind as her hands reflexively clawed at the trapping fingers, then at his face

"Sasuke!" she gasped.

"You're not her," he intoned calmly, nimbly outmaneuvering her gloved fingers. "She would have known better." The words did not penetrate her panic, and her fingers were still scrabbling over his when black spots began to enter her vision. "The way things are, though, you can't leave." His arms were just too damned long!

"Rasengan!"

She felt more than saw the blond tackle their teammate, felt the force as Sasuke was blown off of her. Air entered her lungs at a slow trickle, the crushed skin bruised and burning tender. She clasped Shousen around her throat before her trachea could swell further. Far away she could hear scuffling, scrapping sounds, skin against skin. They sounded dim, shadows beneath stars.

All at once air and awareness came rushing into her and she pushed herself to a sit, one hand protectively at her throat. It burned still, but she wouldn't die. Wind from Naruto's attack had twisted hair into her face, obscuring even what she had hoped to see of her teammates. For the first moments of the reprieve, all she could do was catch her breath.

Sasuke was not supposed to be here. She climbed to her feet, still rubbing her throat. He was still supposed to be incapacitated, left on the floor of the family shrine to sleep off the paralysis her poison had put him in. The buzzing in her ears faded too slowly, the roar of fighting rising.

When she lifted her head, sight and sound were fully clarified. The two ninja were making enough noise to sound like wild beasts as they broke through the undergrowth. She followed after them, stumbling until she caught her feet, at which point she pushed chakra to her extremities and raced. An explosion of detritus rained as far as her destination.

Her eyes were readjusting to the darkness again when she heard, more than saw, Naruto bounce against the ground. He rolled through the fall back to his feet, but Sasuke was still pursuing and even Naruto needed time to recover. Sasuke had always made the time seem so much shorter.

Sakura threw herself into the gap, whipping out her kunai at their pursuer's face. He blocked as she knew he would, but the deflection gave Naruto enough time to get back to both of him.

Sasuke's speed and reaction were as though nothing had crippled his body just hours before. The poison had worked, hadn't it? She had seen his impotence as he laid on the tatami, the way his angry eyes had tried to capture hers. It was impossible to overcome such maladies by sheer will, wasn't it?

Her back bent to avoid a swipe of his knife, thankfully not kusanagi or its reach. When she came back to standing, her arm blocked his return swing, darting in close enough to feel the sweat on his skin. It was heavy and slippery, nearly sheeting from him.

Green eyes widened as she pressed even closer. He was sweating furiously, sweating the poison out. He had managed to reach the white antidote, after all. He had to be exhausted, tired beyond belief. But then again, she had expected him to still be lying on his back, waiting out his fate, not fighting as if he were freshly rested. For all their differences, the man in front of her had a will to match her husband's.

"When did you become so strong?" he grunted as Sakura came between the combatants again. Naruto withdrew, a severe cut in his neck healing as she threw her first punch. Her fingers met the flat of Sasuke's kunai as he blocked her. The metal warped but did not splinter as both retreated. She fled the question as much as his attack. She did not want the words to reach her even as she pressed forward again. He was still sweating.

Sasuke held his ground as Naruto closed the distance between them, the former's body suddenly as still as a statue. Sakura froze with sudden wariness, and Naruto darted into the empty space in front of him, his fist cocked to knock him out the old-fashioned way. His black eyes closed slowly.

Before he had even opened the dark irises, she shouted out. Naruto knew better. He knew better! Her friend had a brief moment of alarm, confusion as to what was happening and why he did not have the same fear she had. By the time he understood, it was too late.

Sasuke opened his eyes as she pitched forward for back up. There would be no time for intervention. Naruto saw the first gleam of red before he felt the impact. Real panic hit her first. Naruto's momentum halted, and his body pitched forward with gravity, his mind caught by something far more insidious.

She had glanced away from Sasuke for just a moment, preparing to catch Naruto before he could completely crumple. Her body touched down next to him, heart racing, arms outstretched. Her eyes cut back to Sasuke, who cast a shadow of movement. She lifted her arm to block whatever he might throw at her, but it was not a throw. It was his foot, kicking beneath her arm to thrust the block away.

The booted ball of his foot hit her cheekbone, forcing her away from Naruto. The world spun as she tumbled feet over head, crashing to a stop in the undergrowth and dirt. Her lungs inflated slowly, she felt confused, and then she heard a whimper that she only distantly recognized as her own. Her face was singing with sting. She tried to work her jaw, but could not tell if it was responding or not.

"Move," she heard faintly, as she blinked against the wavering color of Sasuke's face. Pale and hazy, gray and clear. How had he gotten so close so quickly? She shifted and pressed a hand to the ground. Fingers splayed, and she tried to lift her weight, but even through the air-deprived haze in her mind, her body felt sluggish. The singing turned into ringing, and she could feel the dull edges of pain creeping into her face and neck. "_Move_," she heard again, intensely.

"Don't boss me around," she wheezed.

The ground rushed away, leaving her body in vertigo. Pain blossomed in her throat and chin again, and Sasuke stared up at her from the end of an outstretched arm. His expression was twisted into an ugly thing that she had seen only a few times before-in the Forest of Death, in the Iron Country… Never had he turned that stare directly on her. Until now.

"No," she protested. "It's not supposed to be this way." Fingers tugged at his wrist uselessly, but their motions were weak and clumsy. Her vision began blurring, not from lack of air but with tears. Sadness seemed to always be one synapse away. Even so, his grip was tightening and she could not _breathe_.

"It's not supposed to be this way," he echoed her thought, voice cold with fury, and she wondered if she had spoken the words. Or maybe he could hear her thoughts. The fingers around her throat trembled.

As she cursed his history and insecurities and anger, she could not help but wonder how they had come to this point. Even with all of her strength, with all of her will, she had not been able to get through to his heart. Not the man in front of her, anyway. She closed her eyes, trying to remember better days. If this was the end, she did not want her last thoughts to be of him, angry and vengeful.

Her feet hit the ground, neck released, and she gasped greedily, her earlier healing undone, and her energy spent. Slowly, too slowly, her head turned in his direction, even as she scrabbled backward, catching on rocks and brush. He did not pursue her, seemingly content to hold his ground. And his eyes… They stared at her with unbridled concern. The change distracted her so much that she almost forgot to keep breathing.

Was he letting her go? Was this some kind of ploy? Why now? Why hurt her and then release her? What were all of these fucking mind games?

The answer was almost as painful as the necessity that had predicated it.

"Forehead girl," he spoke in a tone more concerned than she had ever heard from him, even her Sasuke. "Do what needs to be done," was his stern command.

Thoughts hazy, she asked, "What are you…" Sasuke grimaced, his body trembling, but his clear black eyes did not leave. She glanced quickly to Naruto, face buried in the dirt, who had yet to stir from his prone position on the ground. He needed help badly. They both needed help. All of three of them needed healing of some variety, and it all seemed so far from reach.

"Sakura!" Sasuke shouted, and when she glanced back she saw it. It was in the set of his expression, and the way the words rolled over her awareness. Understanding pierced her to the heart. She rolled to her feet, still clutching her neck, and stared at him with wide eyes.

"Ino?" she asked, coughing.

"I don't have much time, Sakura," her best, and oldest, friend gritted out from behind bared teeth. "The bastard's got a little bit of fight in him," she added with a chuckle, shaking her head. The movement cost her, though, and she winced, gripping at the bruises that Naruto and Sakura had put on Sasuke's body. Sakura's own frown deepened. It was incredulous to see Ino struggling so much on a mind control technique that she had perfected before she could buy alcohol.

Was Sasuke really so strong, even now? Was it the strength of will that determined strength against this technique?

"Do it!" she ordered, breaking through the haze in Sakura's head.

The sharp tone startled her out of her complacency, and she dropped the hand at her throat. Still staring at Ino-Sasuke, she took a shaky step towards Naruto. _He_ was wounded. The sharingan could do the same kind of damage to the mind as a severed artery to the physical body. She just needed Ino to hold on for a minute. Just a minute.

"Where are you? Did you follow us?" Sakura croaked.

"Don't ask stupid questions!" Ino barked with Sasuke's voice. The volume and tone made her hesitate again. Even knowing it was Ino. "Kill him _now_," she demanded. Sakura turned and stared at her friend. She had seen this before, had seen Ino place her life on the line during the Chuunin exams.

What Ino demanded was the clearest option, and the only one that she could think of at the moment. It would be the simplest end of their problem. Their problem. Hers and Naruto's. Not Sasuke's. And certainly not…

"If I do that you'll die," she returned flatly, unable to conjure the emotion to her voice that was raging in her chest. She felt so drained already. But that was the truth of it. Sasuke's darkly beautiful face smirked at her. It tugged at her heart and for a moment she felt the full pain she had tried to ignore. Sasuke smirking at her. A dear friend wearing the face that she treasured so deeply. If only Sasuke had looked at her with such affection…

"Don't you dare underestimate me now," Ino objected, breaking into her thoughts. "I'm not the same girl you knew when we were twelve. All this time you-" A pause as she caught her breath, and then a groan cut her words. Sakura watched Sasuke's head dip forward, eyes cloaked with pain. How much time did they have left? How much time was Ino buying them? She hadn't even gotten Naruto up yet!

"Ino?" she asked, turning back towards her struggling friend.

"Sakura, I hear him," she muttered. "If you don't do it now, he's going to kill Naruto. He's going to make you watch and then he's going to kill you, too." She broke off, breathing raspy.

"I can't," she protested, shaking her head.

"Sakura, you'll-"

"I love him!" she interrupted, sharply. Ino stared at her, eyes too wide to be anyone but Ino.

It was the worst time, and the worst place possible, but it was true, and it would not hold back anymore. Naruto and Ino, and Kakashi to some extent, had tried to look out for her. She had seen it in their eyes that she would be better off giving up on him. That they had wanted her safe she could understand, but here was the rub. She loved Sasuke.

Ino winced at her from Sasuke's face, but Sakura only shook her head, unwilling to do as she asked. It was why she had only incapacitated him to begin with at their compound. "I know what he is _here_, what he's always been."

Sasuke was Sasuke. She loved him. She had always loved him, and she would defend him to anyone who thought he was anything less than… less than… less than himself. She loved the man she had married.

Shaking her head wildly, she nearly sobbed, "I can't live like this, but please don't ask me to kill him!" And she did not.

Ino did not protest again. Her shoulders, wrapped in Sasuke's frame and form, sank inward. There was a low, keening sound as her struggle finished. Sasuke's shoulders trembled inward.

Sakura glanced from Sasuke toward Naruto. Ino took a slow, deep breath that caught Sakura's attention, and she did not tremble again.

"I'm going to kill her," Sasuke spoke lowly, and when she looked at him, she saw a trickle of blood running from his nose. It careened over the rise of his lips and dribbled thickly down his chin. She watched it, horrified, mesmerized.

Ino was out of time. Ino, who had never wavered in her friendship, and had done nothing but support Sakura.

"I'm going to kill Naruto, then that bitch, and when we get back to the village I'm going to kill Kakashi," Sasuke spoke silkily, taking a slow step forward. One step was all he moved, then he stopped, pulling his torso upright and into a firmer posture. "You are going to come home, and I'm going to make sure you never even think about pulling a stunt like this again."

She heard his words, felt the truth in their intent, but all she could see was the weariness in every motion and pause in his body. He took another step forward, beautiful even in exhaustion. He was not completely over the effects of the poison. He was just too damned proud to let it hold him down.

His black eyes turned to Naruto, narrowed, and then he sprinted, his knife once more in his hand as he made for the prone ninja.

Sakura knew his intent. She had always known him, better than he had ever cared to credit her. Before he and Naruto had known how to communicate via battle, before Kakashi had seen the fear and hate in his heart, Sakura had known him. She had known he would leave, had known he would return. She knew him.

She loved him.

Her fingers and calves flexed. She _moved_.

* * *

><p>Cliffhanger! ablublublu!<p>

It was meant to feel emotional, and not so rushed. I'm not sure this chapter succeeded on the whole, but if you have any specific pointers on how to make something feel slower and on what points I could improve here, I'd appreciate it. Thanks!


	10. Your

Good things come!  
>To those who wait!<br>/jaunty tune and dance

* * *

><p>He was content that they had all agreed to meet for lunch; that they had foregone missions and other more pressing errands to help each other in a time of need. One might have gone as far as to say he was happy, but he had accepted that there would not be much happiness in his life. Not since he had seen both of his parents lying broken at the feet of an already estranged brother. No, he was not happy, but he was content.<p>

She seemed happy, though. He could still see the shadows around her eyes, dark memories that he sometimes caught in the mirror's periphery. Even now, speaking to Naruto, with a small smile on her face, she seemed calmer and happier, yet not quite whole. She reminded him of the woman he had married, wrapped in melancholy, then wrapped in pretend.

At least she had attempted sitting next to him.

"Ne, ne," the idiot bellowed at her, which she took with much more patience than he could have. Naruto's expression was severe, which was a little unusual given the mundane setting of a café at lunchtime. They were not under attack, and had not had any serious arguments in weeks. Sakura waited patiently for the question that their friend would pose.

"Have you ever seen Sensei's face?" It was a question that caught his and Kakashi's attention, both. All three men turned to regard her with intent curiosity, which she bore well. Her eyelashes did not so much as flutter as she finished sipping her hot tea.

As she lowered the cup, she rolled her shoulders gracefully and said, "Of course." Then she shifted her eyes between the three, noting Naruto's incredulous stare, Sasuke's own eyes cutting back and forth, Kakashi's declined brow. Their teacher's masked face seemed displeased.

"_With good reason_," Sasuke thought to himself, keeping his sudden outrageous curiosity in check. His own breeding was mostly better than that.

"Is that strange?" Sakura asked carefully, picking up on the tension from the other three. Sasuke watched as she fingered the rim of her cup, otherwise completely relaxed. Her eyes slowly rolled from Naruto to Kakashi to him, lingering on his face with show except a well-placed concern.

The shit.

He smirked into his tea as Sakura glanced back to Naruto, who spluttered and rolled his face wildly, trying to find words for his feelings on the matter.

She was going to take the mickey- take the whole damned thing.

"None of us have ever seen his face," Sasuke added, when he was confident that his smirk had toned down enough to be less conspicuous. Now he looked… normal.

"Ahh," Sakura intoned flatly, turning her cup as Naruto offered to refill it. She pushed it gently toward their third teammate as Kakashi lifted his own cup to his mouth. "Yes, that's a good thing," she added, timing perfect. Their instructor's only tell was his slightly pause. Sakura even managed to lift her arm and yukata sleeve placidly as Naruto poured hot tea in a steady stream over the table, staring into space as he imagined the horror behind the black mask.

"Did you get the moles removed yet?" she asked with some concern while Sasuke pinged Naruto in the forehead with a spare pair of ohashi.

Kakashi regarded her wearily, "Plural?"

"Eeeeh?" their loudest member cried, reaching enthusiastically for a feel of their teacher's face. Kakashi parried him easily with the ricocheted wooden chopsticks, catching Naruto's fingers three times before the young man gave up, pouting in his seat. Sakura glanced at Sasuke with a face so bland that he could not help but smirk. His wife smirked in return.

He paused.

Sakura. Sakura smirked at him.

She finished deboning her sanma, eating dainty bites of rice and umeboshi with the salty fish. Sasuke and Kakashi bullied Naruto into cleaning up his own mess from the tea and a rather enjoyable time was had by all of them.

They were walking out the door when Sakura collapsed, and because she had been normal until that point, better than normal, he did not react immediately. She was staring up at him, eyes focused on his face, not seeing, while her body shivered with no need for heat. He could only stare, frozen in place.

Kakashi moved, though, seemed to know what to do, and that was enough to spur him into action, moving to cradle her head and check it for injury. "She's having a seizure," the older man informed him unnecessarily. "Let's get her to the hospital. Naruto, get Tsunade-sama."

* * *

><p>Sakura laid broken at his feet. The matter of death was irrelevant; he had not seen it and did not need to. All that mattered was that she was dead, facing the sky with wide unseeing eyes, in a pool of deep blood, spreading from nowhere- to everywhere.<p>

He screamed, and when the forest opened up and swallowed him whole, he welcomed the vertigo, falling head over feet until he hit the forest floor, crunching on dry grass and- he turned his head and saw long pink hair, dry and rotting dusting the ground. He could not be free of the vision, could not close his eyes, and when the hand-length worm began to ooze its way between her half decayed eye and skull, he screamed again.

He closed his eyes hard, willing darkness to overwhelm him and claim him and claim these memories. He would wake up and right this, make this right. Sakura needed him. She had always needed him, even when she could not and would not admit it, and he loved her too damned much to let her go like this.

When he opened his eyes, cool air breezed over his sweaty brow, and he saw Sakura stepping away from him wearily, shakily. It was the beginning of another nightmare, until he made to move after her and realized that there were no constraints on his body. Not the same ones, anyway.

He tried to sit up swiftly, but pain racked his ribs and abdominals and lungs so that he rolled instead to his side. The motion was stilted with pain, but still urgent. His grunt carried loudly, but she did not turn to look back at him, did not make to check on him. Was he still dreaming?

"Take it slow," she advised softly. It was not the calm of gentleness, but exhaustion, and he glanced this way and that for the enemy, for Sasuke, before climbing to his feet. Her instructions were forgotten. Only that she was alive, that they were alive, that he could not remember what happened, but he still felt danger all around them. He took a shaky step forward as the creature in his belly stirred, weakly indignant at what they had both been put through. When he fell to his knees again, just behind and to the side of her, she did look over her shoulder at him.

Her face was pale, too pale, and her expression was flat. She looked half-dead. Maybe she was.

He took a deep breath, ignoring the pain in his body. As long as he was awake, still breathing, he could move. At his determination she smiled but then looked away from him. She did not move to help him, but leaned forward over flowing water he could hear, but not see. She did not try to help him, but her smile was enough to make him relax.

When he was on his feet again, he tripped and stumbled his way to her. What had happened to him? He remembered Sakura choking, remembered seeing Sasuke over her. He remembered bits of the fight, but nothing after that- nothing but horrid dreams- nightmares that he would sooner forget.

"_It must have been the Tsukiyomi_," he thought silently as he kneeled next to her shakily, and knew instinctively that she had brought him out of the after effects. He had seen the effects on Sasuke when they were children, courtesy of Itachi, had seen how long it had taken them to wear off on their own. But too much starlight remained in the sky, and his body did not have the abandoned, shaky feeling of too much sleep. He knew the sum physical effects of Tsukiyomi, and he knew that the worst had been lifted from his body.

He opened his mouth to ask what happened to them, where was Sasuke, when he saw her right hand. It was glowing weakly with the pale light of shousen, and clutching and a bloody stub where her left hand had once been. The deceptively delicate fingers and palm were completely gone, sliced cleanly away.

"Sakura-chan!" he whispered, horrified. Naruto could not help himself.

He instinctively reached for the wound, then froze as she recoiled from the touch, sharply saying, "Don't!" It took a moment for both of them to recover, him pulling away from her and trying to hide his bewilderment while she realigned her body to continue the healing.

Minutes passed and he watched as she gradually pulled her hand away from the wound. He could see the white bone, the marrow inside, along with the ring of thinly layered muscle around her wrist. Dark cross cuts of veins and capillaries stained his memory. They were still dripping. Even when the light flickered into nothing, and her right hand dropped to the grass next to her thigh, the blood vessels continued to slowly, slowly weep.

He opened his mouth to say, "It's still bleeding," but stopped. If she had healed it this far, then she knew it was still bleeding. Up closer now, he could see the exhaustion in her face, lining her eyes, the tremble of her mouth. She was still sitting up through force of will. The wound continued bleeding because she had nothing left to give.

"Well," she wheezed. "That's all. Would you hand me some bandages."

The young man scrambled left and right, looking behind him, trying to remember where they had stowed bandages. He had not thought of bandages. He never did. He never _needed_ them.

"My pouch," she supplied politely, leaning on her right hand for balance.

The gauze was indeed in the pouch at her waist, a neatly organized thing with weapons and scrolls and some other things he did not recognize. He fumbled with the gauze before his fingers extended it to her. She took it with her right hand and then sat up slowly, slowly, and- Shit, how was she going to even unroll the thing, much less wrap- It unfurled neatly with a flick of her thumb, unrolling its load all the way to the ground and she carefully began to wrap the bloody stub.

He was hovering, he knew he was hovering, but he could not bring himself to pull away. She might need him. His shoulders sagged with guilt as he realized he had not been much help, not when she needed him most.

"We should get some rest," she murmured, and crawled away from the stream on her knees slightly awkwardly. "We don't have to rush anymore."

"Sakura-chan," he asked lowly. He had to know. "What happened back there? Did you ki-"

"It wasn't Sasuke," she interrupted. He watched her pale shoulders rise and fall with the force of her breath. "It was just someone wearing his face." Her voice was still flat, and she was no longer facing him, but he knew the topic was not open for discussion. "He won't be following us anymore. Not ever."

Then she rolled onto her side and said no more. The only sound she made was when she curled inward, but Naruto did not know if she slept or not. He watched her, though, watched the wrist soak through the white gauze slowly, but surely. He watched the slow rise and fall of her side as she breathed and recovered, and hoped to God that she would sleep.

He could not bring himself to rest. Even in the minutes since he had woken he felt better, physically, anyway. The Kyuubi was doing its work to bring him back to one hundred prercent without actually talking to him, or insulting him, rather. In less than a day he would be back to full strength, able to do whatever needed doing. And if… Since Sasuke was dead, they would not need to stop again. No one was as a big a threat as he had been.

As he stared at the still form of the woman he loved, he knew he would not fail her again. He knew it just as instinctively as he knew she had healed him from the effects of the Tsukiyomi, just as he knew that Sasuke was…

Dead. He was dead. He felt the weight settle in on his shoulders as the realization sunk in. Sasuke was dead. Sasuke, who Sakura had loved before she knew what love was. He was dead.

They had been friends once.

* * *

><p>Reaching Amegakure was a four-day trip. Not that it lay four days away from Konoha, but they moved slowly. Naruto was fine, but Sakura was still recovering, and would be for some time. Even had she not been wrung through the ringer, she was not in the mood to push herself or them.<p>

The first day was the worst. She had barely moved at all, only to heal her wrist more when she had the energy or to eat a little bit when Naruto had prepared some of their rations.

Those four days were filled mostly with silence. They were both consumed with their thoughts, but while Naruto wanted to talk to her about- to ask questions and to get a feel for where she was, Sakura did not. She was not so much avoiding him, or the issue directly, but every part of her radiated with, "Do not speak to me. I'm not ready for it."

They slept side by side and ate their meager meals together, but barely spoke to one another. He liked to think that his presence was helpful, but without affirmation the thought was only conjecture.

It was raining when they stepped into the village. Sakura paused at the threshold. There was a puddle of water, extending into the street like a river. It twisted and turned between the buildings, disappearing as the pathway turned out of sight. The few other people she could see inside were just walking through it, not bothering to ride chakra over and keep their feet dry. She lifted her face to the sky as another peel of thunder rolled overhead. Water ran into her face, sliding down her cheeks and the neck of her shirt. They would need cloaks soon. More for weather than privacy. There was no real hope of that.

She had read the report of Jiraiya's death, as much as there was to know. From frogs, to slugs, to Tsunade to Tsunade's desk to Sakura's eyes. Some parts of the story had probably been lost in translation, but she understood better now how Jiraiya had been found out so quickly. Given what they had discovered of Pein after the Sannin's death. There was no way a ninja of his caliber would have given himself away so easily. And she did not think to count herself as someone of Jiraiya's ability.

Sighing, she stepped forward and landed in almost ankle deep water. She winced, then glanced to Naruto to give a small smile. He was watching her curiously, but at her expression he returned the smile.

It struck her that since Sasuke, he had not pushed her, not bothered her, had been very aware of her feelings while she had mostly been trapped in her own world.

"Sorry that I haven't been very kind to you the past few days," she spoke, as they walked forward. His responding expression was at first incredulous, and he opened his mouth to rebut her, but perhaps his brain caught up with his mouth, because he suddenly stopped short.

Then he smiled as well, somewhat sadly, and said, "That's OK." It made her wonder what he had been about to say, so ready to defend her from herself. But the pause, the hesitation, and the small-scale forgiveness instead of a white-wash of her actions were refreshing in their own way.

Sakura nodded her thanks and asked, "Hey, you hungry?"

"When am I not?" he asked cheerfully, only too glad to accept that things were better, that they were OK again. It was not necessarily true, but he had yet to blame her for Sasuke. Maybe he never would, or maybe one day he would wake up and realize what she had done, the depths she was willing to go, and then things would be different. Until then, even then, she was committed.

"Some hot food might be better than trail rations and rice balls," she suggested.

"A woman after my own heart," he sighed, and took a few steps ahead of her. She smiled somewhat as he pointed to a full-on restaurant a few meters away. It was more than a simple food stand, the kind of place she had intended, but not too fancy. She shrugged and nodded. If they could be dry and warm again, she was not going to be picky about the exact location they chose.

"It looks good," she said as she caught up to him and they continued to the small eatery.

Inside, she took a seat at one of the benched tables, higher than traditional furniture. It made sense with all of the water, the constant threat of flooding, or the pretense of a constant threat of flooding. Her body was still cold, clothes still wet, but the warmth of the café more than made up for it, and as the familiar smells of fish and seaweed hit her nose, she sighed in pleasure. It was the most comfortable she had felt in days.

Naruto approached the back counter to get their food, pausing briefly as Sakura called, "Make mine a double!" He smiled, shooting her a thumbs up and then turned back to his goal. She smiled a little as well, her hand traveling discreetly to her abdomen. The life there was strong, despite everything that had happened in the past week.

This was the reason she had been so terrified after the fight with Sasuke, so desperate to rest and recover after losing her hand, why she had tried to stay calm despite it all. Her body had been near to shock, and she had still divided her abilities between healing herself and healing Naruto. Afterwards, all she could was focus on breathing, let her body have the oxygen it needed with the blood she had left. As far as she could tell, the baby had not been hurt in the fight, nor suffered from the aftereffects. She hoped the diagnosis would carry into the future.

Removing her hand, she set it on the table in front of her, along with her stumpy wrist, and glanced around the room. There were a few people hunched over bowls of noodles, slurping noisily and whispering to one another between bites. All of the ones she could see were nin, if their many-pocketed vests were any clue, but they were more interested in their food than her or Naruto, so she tried not to think about them too much.

The thought of her friend caused her to look up at the back of his head. He still had no idea what they were getting into, though the change of scene probably had him curious. She did not think him so unintelligent as to have completely ignored the _possibility_ of getting into more trouble than resolution, but still he had accompanied her. He had rejected her attempts to get him to stay in Konoha in that initial discussion, even before returning to the Uchiha property. Even now, she could not deny that his presence had saved her life. It had cost her hand, but it had saved her life.

Here he was now, ordering lunch for them both with their meager cash, with a real smile on his face as if she had not killed his best friend only days before.

"_I must be the most horrible person in the world,_" she thought, watching him with a dry eye. Doing the right thing did not always lead to pleasant, warm feelings, but she could not judge her feelings in either direction to know whether she was doing what was right now. Nothing felt like the right thing anymore. If she wondered about her choices and the coming consequences too much at all, everything felt awful, but it was the path she had chosen. It was the only one she had left.

Naruto was walking toward her, four bowls of ramen balanced precariously on two arms, and grinning. Before he reached the table, he hesitated, his smile dropping while his blue eyes rolled toward the nin she had seen jawing. They were no longer chatting amiably, but watching Naruto. The four bowls dropped to the floor, shattering on impact. It was the only warning she got before the window next to her exploded inward and Naruto leaped into motion.

A nin came in through the window as she rolled sideways off of the bench, tipping its weight upward like a seesaw. As he darted toward her, she gave the upturned bench a firm shove into his masked face. His attack faltered for a split second as he absorbed the blow, and Sakura took the opportunity to fully lift the bench and throw it at her attacker with chakra-enduced strength. Both her attacker and the seat were propelled out of the window under the force.

She turned back to her friend to see Naruto and Naruto and Naruto taking on three other nin. She made for the closest copy, and jumped into the fray.

Their enemy rolled backward onto the table, throwing the half-eaten dishes at their heads, and Naruto's clone cried out at the travesty of wasted ramen even as it shattered the bowls before they connected. Sakura sighed, doused in lukewarm noodle broth, and rolled her eyes at the blond shadow before pounding a fist on the table's end. It catapulted the nin into the ceiling with a loud crunch before his body fell on the table motionlessly.

She turned to the clone, who was giving her a watery frown, before she snapped, "Help, Naruto!" and herself headed toward the second clone. Just as she arrived to help, the enemy nin dropped backward to the floor of the café, still and the clone dissipated in a cloud of smoke. Sakura turned back to see the real Naruto leaping out of the main door in pursuit of their last attacker.

"Shit!" she breathed, giving chase.

The water outside was ankle-deep and slowed her more than she would admit. She did not want to waste more chakra by staying on top of it. Two hits in and she was already feeling drained. Naruto had not gone too far, though.

When she caught sight of him again, he was barely forty feet away, pile-driving the fleeing nin into the watery street with a roaring splash. The few pedestrians that had been walking stopped and regarded the scene warily. This was not Konoha, not the one she knew or Naruto knew, and the people here might not respond well to fights in the streets.

Fingers clamped on her good wrist and she spun, ready to use the side of her forearm like a tonfa. Her assailant caught that arm as well, squeezing roughly as she stared up into his masked face. She remembered well the masks from her first chuunin exam, like filters that masked mouths and voices alike. With a grunt, she pulled both of her arms back, jerking him forward enough to take the headbutt he dished out.

The hold on her limbs dropped as he reeled backward, and she followed up with a snap-kick to his groin, stopping his fall and propelling him back into the air. Then her body arced into an aerial that slammed him back into the wet street. She pulled back, ready to follow up on the attack when his body slumped downward, face first.

This was what she had anticipated- truly, what she had counted on and planned to some extent. Someone had to notice them, had to send word to those she truly wanted to meet. All they needed was time, but the tired was getting to her. There was still plenty of fight left in her, but she was so tired. She was tired of fighting, of running, of being afraid.

Sloshing forward, she bent down and rolled over the body of the prone nin, her knife at his neck, should he be pretending. His dark eyes opened slowly, blinking away the rain that sluiced through his cracked goggles.

"I want to talk to Leader," she said calmly.

He jerked in the water, shook his head and lifted enough to pull his ears out of the run off.

"Leader," she reiterated. "How do I speak to him?"

"Your insolence," he breathed, the words garbled after her attack and because of the mask.

She pressed the knife fully against his skin, causing him to draw up for preservation. If only this man realized how far down on her list of priorities his life ranked.

"Leaf," he spat at her, eyes narrowing behind the tinted coverings.

"Not anymore," she returned, her voice still calm. "How do we find him?"

"You don't _find_ **him**. If you are worthy to be in his presence, he finds you."

Sakura thought about those words, and listened to the slowing fight behind her. He spoke the truth, this man who had attacked her. She glanced back down to him and pulled the knife away. She stood and took a few steps back from the nin who slowly climbed to his feet.

When she turned to glance back at Naruto, he was covered, foot to waist, in white paper, sheets plastered and overlapping thickly at his joints. He was nearly immobilized from the cast. For a ninja to move at the pace the plaster reduced him to _was_ immobile. More importantly was the woman standing between them, the one Naruto was straining to reach as she faced Sakura.

Konan, who Sakura recognized not from Jiraiya's reports, but from Naruto's. Naruto had met the woman beforeduring his fight with Pein. He had not mentioned how beautiful she was, but had highlighted her blue hair and the rose she wore. Interesting things for a man to notice. He had also mentioned her particular affinity for origami ninjutsu, and the paper capturing Naruto's waist now was more than telling.

She wore the Akatsuki cloak that Sakura had been looking for, and she repressed a sad smile at the sight of it. To come to this…

It was against all of her instincts and all of her training, but Sakura gripped the knife handle and promptly tossed it aside. It dropped with a loud sploosh. The water swallowed it up before it was lost to the murky current.

"We're here for sanctuary," Sakura called, pulling no punches. If she knew the cards, she and Naruto held the weaker hand, and she was terrible at bluffing, anyway.

Konan stared at her for a cool moment, unsmiling, before she spoke, "You have an interesting way of… _asking_ for it."

"We wanted your attention."

"I see. You have the prowess for which Leaf are known."

"Then you know who we are," Sakura prompted, willing her fingers to remain unclenched. She had known that Akatsuki would play their cards tightly, but standing face to face with this woman was something else. There was absolutely no emotion on her face, a far cry from what Sakura remembered years before with Sasori and then with Hidan and Kakuzu. Those three, at least, had given something away. Not so with Konan.

"Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Sakura. I know of you."

"If you know who we are, then you know what Naruto has inside of him."

"I do, which makes it all the more foolish for you to have come here."

Sakura froze, her heart racing. She stared at the kunoichi who had yet to show any kind of interest in them, besides breaking up their street brawl. Was this all going to end now? Were they going to die here? After they had come so far?

Her mouth spoke before she could think, "If we came of our own free will, do you think we did so without a purpose?"

"And what purpose is that?" Konan retorted, as cold as the color of her hair, not missing a beat. She was terrifying.

Sakura thought of all of the information she knew on the former- no, current Akatsuki. Some she knew firsthand and other pieces she had learned from Tsunade, from simply being in the presence of her mentor. Any of that information could have dug a little deeper, made the conversation a little more twisted- but would it buy enough trust to simply gain a meeting with them? Trust? Not a chance in hell. But time, maybe. They were not unreasonable, even if some of their members were insane. Well, at least Konan was not unreasonable. She had not killed them on the spot.

Naruto had stopped struggling at the onset of conversation.

When Konan raised an eyebrow at her, her time was up.

She settled on, "I have a proposition."

Konan turned to her more fully, still waiting.

"For Nagato."

* * *

><p>Thanks to my reviewers: crazymel2008, babydoll8901, halfkyuubikat, kuromimi, anautumnlady, divine-chaos13, cutecookiechick, ameasuredphrase, xxlizzie-chanxx, icecweamwuver, moor, angrypixels, yattsy, breezybiatch, life'snotperfect, justalittletwisted, mica, and ylan. It was fun writing out all of your names. Read these in a monotone they way you might make a grocery list.<p>

Apology: I'm a bit of a liar. Because I said there were two chapters left, then three. Well, after this chapter there are two chapters and an epilogue. It's almost done! I have 19 pages of notes for the story. We're 14.6 pages through at this point. This is the closest I have ever come to finishing a story of this length. The first story I wrote when I was 12. I am now more than twice that age, and it is YOU, gentle-spastic-encouraging reader who has kept me going. LET'S DO THIS. Oh, and if you have questions, please ask them :)


	11. Very

The spasms continued without rhythm as they had since she had fallen at lunch. That had been just minutes ago, when her heart had stopped and only their quick response had brought her directly to an open hospital bed. How long did it take before brain damage set in? Minutes? An hour? Were they so lucky? Minutes since she had collapsed, but it felt like hours already.

He stared at her ghostly pale face, feet away from him it looked like the moon. She looked dead already, save the quick, sharp jerks that rocked her body. Even those seemed to be slowing by the moment.

"What's happening?" Naruto asked, staring at Sakura's pale form from his side. If he had the answer, they would not be standing here waiting for it. Kakashi stood to Sasuke's other side, and the young Uchiha was ignoring the feeling that they were preparing to coddle him. Only one person was allowed to do that these days, and that was only behind closed doors.

"I don't know," he said flatly, flat enough to silence Naruto for a moment. Dense as he was in some ways, EQ had always been one of his strengths, even with someone like Sasuke.

Tsunade took a deep breath, shousen lighting her hands over Sakura's body, one directly over her heart, and the other circulating rapidly over her abdomen and stomach. The fingers were splayed wide, trying to cover as much area as possible. Shizune continued note-taking, wordlessly putting a hand into the procedure from time to time.

The two best medics in the village were presiding over Sakura's body, and it was not enough. He could keep a stoic face, but damn if his heart wasn't racing.

"She's had a seizure," Tsunade informed from her bent position over Sakura's chest. Sasuke did not give into the urge to snap at her obviousness. The Hokage's calm voice continued. "Her heart stopped, but I'm keeping it going." The hanging 'for now' was not missed. "Other organ systems are failing."

Naruto tensed, and Sasuke only had a moment to anticipate him before he shouted, "No! DO something!" For a split second it pleased him, that their best friend and future Hokage would be so wrapped up in Sakura's life, so concerned. When had he not been? But the reflexive gratitude was overwhelmed with an instinctive anger; anger that Naruto would distract Tsunade, that he could express fear and anger that Sasuke could not.

"Naruto, get out," he said, hearing his words wrapped in tandem with the same command from Tsunade.

"What?" he asked, sincerely shocked at the idea, but to his credit, only half-heartedly protested when Kakashi led him away. He could sulk all he wanted later. If- _when_ Sakura was safe.

Shizune gasped as the two ninja left, dropping her notes. Kakashi and Naruto had not even cleared the door when she jumped between them, shouting orders for more nurses and orderlies to arrive. They came back in force, and Sasuke instinctively pulled himself to the wall, his fingers clenching tightly at his side.

This was the moment when he wanted to intervene, he wanted to step forward and do something- command them to command him to do something. He wanted to help, he wanted to_ fix this_. How had they come here? How had they arrived at a place where Sakura was dying? She was dying. No discernible cause, and yet somehow it was his fault. Everything was always his fault at the end. Itachi had placed so many hopes on him for the future. Sakura had done the same, and he had accepted them both in the way he knew how. That made their failures his.

It was the stronger, wiser, more pained part of him knew that he could do nothing. This was not his place. He was not a healer. It was not in his nature.

"Tatsu, work on stabilizing input and out from the liver," Shizune projected, and the man slipped to Tsunade's left, his hands moving smoothly and confidently. "Asami, kidneys." He watched them keep her alive, keep her body functioning when it could not on its own. He watched them support and help her, feeling the despair of his powerlessness grow. None of them looked at her face.

He did not realize he had left the room until Naruto was shoving a scalding cup of bitter tea into his hands. He took it reflexively, stared at the cloudy green depths.

"She's going to be okay," Naruto mumbled, muttering loudly enough for his words to carry. Sasuke reacted.

"This is not how it's supposed to go," he snapped, and flung the foam cup against the wall without warning. Its soft thud and weak stain against the wall left him unsatisfied. Doubt and pain blended into anger, growing at every moment of inefficacy. He was powerless, worthless, in this moment. "She was _fine_," he growled. "_We_ were fine." Reconciled, he wanted to say, and did not. "This is not how things are supposed to be."

"She's going to be fine," Naruto repeated immediately, clearly this time. Naruto, who changed the world through the strength of his will, who overcame impossibilities with impossibilities. He should have known better. Because all Sasuke needed was a vent for his anger.

"Don't try to placate me," he growled in the next instant, but even he was not prepared for Naruto grabbing his collar, nor the shaking that followed.

"If you want to be angry, be angry at yourself!" his friend shouted back, not pulling any punches. It was a punch, too, hitting him straight in the gut and knocking half of the fight out of him. "If you hadn't been such an asshole this wouldn't have happened, Sakura wouldn't have left and gotten into this situation." Only half of the fight was gone, though. He grabbed Naruto's wrist, ready to twist in a way that would have him dropping the fabric, when Naruto punctuated his words with, "You HAVE to believe in her."

Then, he threw Sasuke into the chair he had just vacated and returned to staring through Sakura's open door at the chaos inside. Sasuke did not look at Kakashi. He glanced at Naruto only once more before dropping his face against his clasped hands.

"Sakura," he thought silently. "You have to pull through. _Pull through_."

* * *

><p>The sound of the rain was a pleasant backdrop to the darkened room. Sakura had visited a civilian castle once in her youth. The beautifully darkened, glossy wood, made so by the thousands of feet that had covered its surface over the years was similar to what she knelt on now. That castle had had windows, though, small ones, that left in shafts of beautiful white light. This room was only lit by tall lampstands, candle light that seemed archaic and appropriately mysterious.<p>

At her side, Naruto had not bothered looking at the room, not where she could see. His eyes were fixed on the two people beyond them, the raised platform they kneeled on, their black and red cloaks. His eyes were hard as he stared at them, not the intense, ready-to-battle-for-fun hard. She could see it in the line of his mouth, the set of his brow. He was completely on guard and not screwing around.

She turned to their hosts, Konan to the side and just behind Pein, who watched them with dead eyes. Truly dead, which did not help her discomfort. Dead did not matter to Nagato, who had not revealed himself, but was still pulling the strings. Sakura had never seen the blond corpse this close before. She had only caught glimpses of him, too busy fighting his different Paths and rescuing children, supporting the village instead of taking on the role of spearhead. That had been Naruto's fight. It was comforting that she knew Naruto at least had the potential to take on this man. Potential and actuality were different things, of course, and she was still hoping that none of this interaction would come to violence.

"A relevant question," he began, not without some cheek, "is if, knowing who we are, why would you willingly bring a jinchuuriki into our midst?" It was Naruto who answered, quickly, and without reservation, as he did most things.

"If you want the power of the bijuu," Naruto said, his voice modulated so carefully that Sakura was nervous. "I will fight alongside you." She refused to look at him, to give away how much of a gamble this was. They had both lost so much already, they were almost out of options. Not for the first time she wallowed in her own selfishness. Her face showed nothing.

"And what's to stop us from taking this power ourselves?" Pein asked in a voice that matched his eyes, dispassionate, cautious. Sakura admired the way he could pause _just so_ to make them think he had given a normal amount of thought to the question, as if he had not known his answer all along. How long had Nagato been a master of manipulation, not a puppeteer with a No figurine, but just an old-fashioned psychologically twister or words?

"To fully realize the power of a bijuu, one must have a host capable of controlling it. The jinchuuriki are created only in the very young, therefore none of the current Akatsuki are viable hosts." She glanced between Pein and Konan with a controlled motion. How close could she come to her breaking point without giving everything up? If she ignored the life growing in her- if she willfully forgot it for just a few more hours… A few days at most. She nearly laughed. Wasn't that what she was doing already? "Still, in order to use the beasts, after finding a child capable of holding it, you would have to wait several years before a jinchuuriki could operate at all, much less in tandem with the bijuu." She turned to Naruto, who glanced at her for a moment, then turned his eyes back to the pair. "You have a willing host in front of you."

"Why are you willing to do this at all?" Pein asked. Again, the contrived thoughtfulness.

Sakura did grimace then, annoyance on her face. She opened her mouth to speak when he looked at her. He simply looked at her, and she paused. There was no chakra, no effort, but she knew not to speak.

"I want to hear it from the jinchuuriki," he clarified. Her mouth closed.

Naruto did not have the same compunction she did. He spoke clearly and effortlessly, "We've broken away from Konoha, because they've done nothing but beat me down my whole life." It was a jarring statement, and her mask of control slipped for a moment despite her as she listened to his words. He explained on, citing specific examples, while Pein listened with the same unmoved expression on his face.

She could not help but think, as she watched her best friend give his life story, everything he was in this moment, to a man who did not care. They had grown up together as children, and she had seen so many of the choices, the circumstances, that led him to manhood. Konoha, even in the decisions that had been hard to swallow, had always been his home. Konoha had been his rock, not just the place but the people, too. Yet, Naruto was not a liar. If he said he would fight with the Akatsuki, he would.

He glanced at her as he finished speaking, and she realized she had missed most of his words. But he stared at her with the same intensity that he stared at Pein and Konan. Then for a fraction of a second his brow softened. It changed his face. She knew the Akatsuki saw it. She knew even though it was already back to that hard look.

She saw it, too.

Naruto loved her. He really, really loved her.

It was not a crush that he had had as a child, or the silliness he had demonstrated as a teenager. This was not the love of friends who label each other godparents and guardians of their children. This was not the love of friends who hold your hair out of your face when your body is ill and it's all you can do to keep vomit aimed in the bin, much less out of your hair. This love was beyond that, sacrificial to death.

It was still underwhelming, given the obstacle course her emotions had run in the past week.

When he looked away, she was still more grateful than she had ever been. This was the thing she did not want to see, had never wanted to see. Because Naruto knew her feelings, knew that she loved the man she had killed, even when he had tried to kill her, knew that she did not love Naruto the way he loved her.

"The emotional component of your plight is illogical and unnecessary. I am unmoved," Pein announced from the dais. Sakura turned to him, the only motion in the room, save her heart dropping into her stomach. If they tried to flee, they would not escape.

He regarded her, not Naruto, her and took a breath. Then he did turn his attention to the jinchuuriki and added, "Your emotions will hamper you in the future, I expect, and I advise you against flaunting them so freely. Nevertheless, I will accept your offer." Again, his eyes turned to Sakura, "What do you require for your allegiance?"

She faltered, her mind turning over the possibilities and failed possibilities. She thought they had been about to die. For the moment now, she felt safe again, then berated herself at the idea. They were not safe. There was a chance they would never be safe. Momentarily alive did not equate with security.

"Uchiha Itachi's assistance," she spoke, her voice wavering over the words as she tried to recover.

"And why would Itachi agree to assist you in such a personal way?" he asked. She held back the protest that Pein, or Nagato, could command the man. On this point, her knowledge was shaky. She knew the identities of the internal members of Akatsuki, if things were the same here, but not much about their hierarchy. By the time Nagato had shown his hand to her Konoha, most of them had been dead and pursuing the point had become moot.

If the choice was in Itachi's hands, Sakura had to play her hand, "Because I'm bearing his nephew."

She exhaled, felt her lungs lift, some of the strain ease. It was freeing, as much as it was terrifying, to finally share the information that she was pregnant. At her side, Naruto stilled. Pein and Konan, finally moving, looked between one another and then back to the pair below them.

"We will deliberate," he announced. Then without flourish or fanfare, they disappeared, sheets of paper settling to the floor in their wake. She allowed herself a moment to admire the aesthetic in the jutsu, tried to think of anything besides her best friend at her side staring at her.

The world turns on, though, and does not stop at horrible moments, no matter how much it might be wished so. She looked at Naruto, trying to keep her face flat. She wanted to smile, ease some of the tension between them, but she could not. Here it was, out in the open, that she was holding, growing, Sasuke's child. Naruto had fled the village with her without knowing this. Would he hate her? Would he leave now?

She had trapped him in this moment, manipulated him in a way not unlike the Iron Country. Not unalike, but far worse. Silently, she gave him full permission to hate her. It was not like she did not hate herself already.

This world was not her own. She did not belong to its circumstances. She was trying to put Sakura, the other Sakura, in the best situation possible, but was this the best? Was it truly? Had her decisions been too rushed, too fatalistic? Could she have tried harder with Sasuke? Could she have acted differently?

The crux of it all was that if this plan worked, then she would not have to live in it, with the decisions. She would abandon them all for the better life she knew was waiting for her in her Konoha. That was the worst of it.

"It's true," she said after, when it seemed that Naruto would say nothing at all.

"How long have you known?" he asked, and she could not tell if he was guarded or not. He was so quiet, his eyes shuttered.

"Since we decided to leave the Village."

"Did Sasuke know?"

"He did."

Naruto frowned at her, exhaled heavily through his nose, and then looked away, dropped his eyes to the floor. Hate, then. Sakura smiled. Heart broken, in peril, but alive. She clasped her hands in her lap and looked up to the dais again.

Neither of them said anything else, and before she could summon the desire to break the silence, Pein and Konan returned. It was the same whorl of white paper, fluttering pieces of plaster that fell away like feathers from a pillow fight. They were not alone this time. Behind Pein, opposite of Konan, was a flickering shadow, a dark projection as from a machine, yet with no discernible source. It was in the shape of a human body, and when it turned to her, Sakura saw a monochromatic pair of sharingan meet her eyes.

"What's happened to Sasuke?" Uchiha Itachi asked from the dark cloud. She had not been expecting him so soon, but his presence was a comfort. It did not mean she was any safer, but she knew as much about Itachi's file as she did about the Akatsuki. Many things Sasuke himself, her Sasuke, had told her about his brother. Danzou, secret missions, all of the things she was not supposed to know here, yet did. How many things were different now?

"He's dead," she said levelly.

There was a long period of silence in the wake of that revelation, during which Sakura's heart fluttered. Itachi's eyes, their projection, flicked from person to person in the room before settling on her again. Had Pein and Konan told him the news she had shared with them? Obviously they had. Why else would he appear so suddenly?

He did not bother with the games that Pein affected, saying simply, "I'm returning to Ame. I will arrive in a three days."

Without another word, he vanished. The projection faded, Pein and Konan stood and left.

Sakura and Naruto were escorted to a single room where their gear was already stored. As far as hospitality went, the Akatsuki were top notch. She noted the two separate futons, a few medical supplies set next to what she supposed was hers. All of the contents of their bags, down to every last kunai and tag, were still in place. It did not stop her and Naruto from searching through the room for spying equipment, traps.

She had just flipped her futon mattress back into place and was straightening the blanket atop it mechanically, when Naruto spoke, "I won't leave you."

Sakura lifted her head smoothly, but her emotions were bared on her face, in her eyes. He held her expression for a moment. "I'm not gonna let them take the baby."

"Who are you?" she wanted to ask him and didn't. She stared, at a complete loss, and wondered if he was not a little delusional. It occurred to her to ask him that, to throw the question to him, hurt him intentionally, make him back off a little bit. Because she certainly did not deserve this kind of devotion. Who was this man next to her, willingly walking through hell, even after she had kept this information from him?

The heartbreak showed on her face. The emotion was on the tip of her tongue. She could feel it, and she could see it reflected in Naruto's eyes when he leaned forward, reached out to her. Then she reined herself in, and he froze. His hand dropped to his lap and clenched his knee tightly.

"It probably won't be in your control, Naruto," was what she finally said. "Not yours, not mine, what happens to the baby. That's part of the bargain." Her fingers buried in the blanket, tightening wrinkles in the fabric. The next to the last Uchiha. Itachi would have mercy. The baby-it would be all right. If she allowed herself to think otherwise, she might as well die now. She took a deep breath, made her fingers relax, and tucked the anguish back into that place that did not exist, the place she could not visit. "What I need- the Sakura you know will need, is someone to help her be strong, to support her. Naruto…" Her voice threatened to break on the word. "Will you?" Not 'can,' because he was the man who could do anything. Overcome impossibilities with further impossibilities, and it was obviously not beyond him drag his heart through hot coals.

"You've been strong this whole time, already," he answered. "If you can make the decision to leave a baby- your baby behind, I'm not sure you need as much support as you think."

She smiled on reflex. What could she say to that? Deny it? Denial would be the only way she could defend the hurtful words, meant to be hurtful, and denial was no true defense. So she did what she had been doing since childhood, and she smiled. It was fair to hurt her. He knew what it meant to be abandoned as a child, without the benefit of Konoha accepting him this time around. He had come this far with her. For her, perhaps. She could stand a little bit of hurt from him.

"Well, I'm not the one who has to go through with it, am I?" she asked, lying through the injustice. It was absolutely her decision. It was her decision to go through with it, to see it through to the end, and she would have to live with the consequences, even if the physical circumstances changed, the memories would not. "If this plan works, it will be the woman you remember who has to live with it."

She did not know if he was caught up in her logic or appeasing her, but he nodded. He nodded and she went about changing the bandage on her stump of a wrist. The wound was still weeping white blood cells, and the muscle was raw and ugly looking. It was the best thing for her to see now, something that focused and centered her on immediate need; allowed her to forget all of the ambiguous possibilities.

And… why couldn't she just not care?

Before she completely abandoned the conversation, though, she turned to Naruto, waited for him to look at her and she smiled. "I have hope," she whispered. "That things will be all right." That was the hardest to admit. She could force herself to say the things that needed to be said, admit she was pregnant, that she had a heinous plan for getting home. But hope? Admitting hope was not necessary, and would only lead to more heartbreak. Yet there it was, and she could not take it back. No more than she could reverse the last week. No time for regrets. All of her hopes were on Itachi now.

Naruto nodded again, forcing a weak smile that seemed to mirror her feelings well. When he crossed the room to hug her, she reluctantly allowed it, and after a moment, buried herself in it.

It was that evening when she was washing, separately from Naruto and feeling mostly calm about the situation- alone for the first time in days, that Konan came to her. As the violet-haired woman sank into four-person tub with her, she was not certain whether she had come solely to bathe or to spy on her. Perhaps a bit of both.

She set aside her washing materials, her towel, and then sank into the water without looking at Sakura. A few minutes later after she had stretched out her legs and her shoulders, when Sakura had just begun to relax again, she asked, "So why did you leave?"

She resisted the urge to sigh, to vent her annoyance and ask why they had not asked earlier in the day in the more formal setting. For all she wanted to get some of her annoyance off of her chest, Konan was still Akatsuki. She was still a dangerous woman in her own right. It was something Sakura would not allow herself to forget.

And yet she could not resist asking, "Does it matter?" After all, Naruto had given them the basic rundown. He had given them the most important information anyway.

Konan sluiced a handful of water over her forearm, watching the lightly toned muscle shift. She did not look at Sakura immediately, did not need to. She seemed perfectly as ease.

"What you are begging for," and the woman did not mince words, did she? She looked at Sakura, sharply focused, "would essentially make you part of our organization." Sakura said nothing. She had not thought they would be elevated to such a level. Hierarchical structure, again. "All of our members are missing nin," Konan continued. "Are you truly cutting off Konoha?"

"Yes," Sakura said with some strength. If they doubted that, she would have to make them believe. She met the woman's curious eyes without hesitation. "We had to flee for our lives, for more lives than our own."

Silence held between them for a few moments, skipping over the lapping of water as both women made themselves comfortable. It was surreal, Sakura allowed herself to realize, to really feel for just a moment. Two weeks ago, one week ago, even, this possibility would never have existed in her mind. It proved that when pushed far enough into a corner, one could either maneuver out of the space or create more.

"The Konoha we have seen," Konan added without looking at her, "is not one Jiraiya would have approved of." Sakura glanced at her briefly, then looked back to her own lap, not trusting herself to keep from staring. She had forgotten that relationship for a time. Of all of the things she remembered, she had not been banking on sympathy, if it was truly sympathy. Probably not, though. Jiraiya's death did not invalidate her statement, though. He would not have approved of Danzou's ruling and machinations at all. Maybe he could have fought to change them. Maybe not.

Quietly, she spoke, "You're right."

"Hmm. I sense your sincerity. Candor will help your cause," Konan said, and Sakura kept her focus on her lap. She left shortly after that, wanting only to be alone, truly alone. Whatever would happen would happen, and the decisions were no longer hers to make.

The next few days of solitude were not restful. She did not see much of Naruto. When she did, he did not exactly avoid her, but did not go out of his way to engage her, either. Mostly, she was grateful. The world was closing in on her, a multitude of bad choices and consequences wrapping around her. If all she could do was wait, then at least she could avoid making anything worse.

The compound was mostly open to them. Neither she nor Naruto had been confined to their room, which only deepened her belief in the Akatsuki's power and authority. If they were not regulated, it was because they were not threatening. It was the most relaxing thing about the entire scenario. She was even of the mind that if the organization wanted to kill them, they would do so quickly. It was humanizing for a group so full of proven sociopaths.

Three days passed in bouts of speed cut with agonizing delay. She knew Itachi had arrived when she was summoned to the chamber in which they had first held audience with Pein. There was no warning, no alarms, no signal of any kind. It was still raining, and he had arrived.

Naruto sat seiza with her, knee to knee and they both stared up at the man. Had they met before? In this world? Had Itachi come after him years previous with Kisame? The thought of the shark-man made Sakura's jaw clench, but she did not look away from his considering stare.

His face was as dispassionate as the last time _she _had seen him; in the forest between Konoha and Sand. That had only been a bunshin, even and still radiated with enough strength to convey emotion. The expression matched his aura perfectly, only now there was no killing intent. She felt like a petri dish beneath a microscope. Not too far off, given the concept of incubation.

She did not wait for him, for any of them, to speak when she requested, "May I speak to you alone?" Uchiha secrets were the last hand she had to play, the final bargaining piece she had yet to share, and though she privately thought she had given up any right to be called a loyal Uchiha, she wondered if Itachi would not prefer to keep the family secrets just that. If he was the man she had learned so much of posthumously, perhaps he would not want Nagato to-

"No," he said clearly, cutting off her thoughts so abruptly that she could only blink at him. "I don't hide anything from Leader."

"Liar," she thought ungraciously. Even if he himself did not, she knew it was within him to do so. He had in the other world, thoughts and intents and over a decade of secrets and lies. She said nothing, simply inclined her head submissively.

Her remaining hand reached out. She channeled a minute amount of chakra and ran through a few one-handed seals. No one made to stop her, even as she spread her fingers wide on the floor, summoning the scroll she had stolen days before from the secret room. With a small puff of smoke, perfect control even with reflex, the scroll popped into existence.

Waving away the mist, she sat back once more and lifted up the scroll to him, showing him the character on the end. Even several paces away, he could clearly see the 'man' on the dowel's end. When she extended it, he nodded, and she tossed it to him, watching as he plucked it out of the air and proceeded to examine it. He did not open it before turning it over and over in his hands. There was a moment of chakra examination, authentication, before he looked back to her again and nodded.

"I know the hopes you had placed in Sasuke," she explained, holding his gaze, almost proud of herself for not stumbling. "That man was my husband, but he had become something very different from your expectations under Danzou's influence and tutelage."

His face remained blank. His eyes were not even flicking with the reflexive focusing eyes normally did. If he was trying to unnerve her, she would have to let go of her fear, have to put herself someplace else mentally, go to the place where fear did not exist.

She pressed on, "I'm carrying one of the last two Uchiha. If you still harbor any hopes of rebuilding your clan, then I will give you this child to raise and direct."

"And what, Uchiha Sakura, makes you think I would accept such a thing as an offering and not just take it from you?"

Her eyes dropped to the floor again, and she knew each of them could feel the spike her chakra took at his words. The end of her rope was frayed beyond much use at this point, but this… She did not lift her eyes, took a deep breath to steady her anger, and said, "Whatever you think you know of me, you don't." She lifted her face but did not make visual contact. "I _won't_ go down without a fight."

"Yet she was willing to give up the child," Pein interjected, carelessly, either ignoring her emotion or simply not caring about it. Sakura felt a moment of spite toward the man, wondering if it was a perpetual need to be at the center of conversation, attention. She glanced to him, and pushed her anger away. It was becoming second nature, these days, hide her feelings, hold her cards tightly.

'Was' he had said, not 'is.' She cut her eyes to Naruto, who was staring at the trio, then back to Pein. So they had been spying on them, after all. The bugs were hidden well, if they had managed to hear the conversation she and Naruto had had in their room. Or they were too careless.

"Regardless, this information is at odds with what we have known of your personality."

She blinked at them, momentarily surprised by the announcement. She would have expected to be on the periphery of their awareness, battle strengths and tactical approaches to neutralize her. She was not Naruto, and she was not Sasuke, and barely an elite nin. She should have been beneath their radar. Personality was much more in depth than she had credited them.

"This personality before you is not at odds with someone who wants a Mangekyou sharingan," she said, remembering the characteristic necessary to gain one. Itachi blinked at her. Pein shifted in his seat. Naruto glanced at her from the corner of his eye.

"You were married to such a one," Itachi interjected, as if she might not have known, perhaps attempting to goad her in his way. She gave him an almost smile, her eyes unpleasant. "Why did you not ask him?" he queried, unfazed by her expression.

"Sasuke was going to kill me. Slowly or immediately, I didn't know. When I realized I was pregnant, I had to get away."

"Yet you would be willing to give your child to a known criminal, a murderer, as opposed to trusting it to the care of your husband?" Pein asked, leading the conversation once more.

That one hurt, and she did not bother to hide her pain. Konan had said candor would help her case. Now was the time to find out how honest _she _had been.

"Hasn't that much been established?" she asked, not wanting to provoke Itachi further by regaling him with just how much she knew about him. Or how little. She looked at her… brother-in-law, and explained, "I love him. I _still _love him, but he was going to murder Naruto, then murder me. I simply…" and there was nothing simple about it, not in any way, not from any angle, "stood up to him."

When Itachi failed to answer, to ask anything further, Pein prompted her instead, "What is it that you want, Sakura?"

Here.

Here it was.

Her eyes glanced to Konan first. The conversation from nights before in the bath came to mind swiftly. Then she turned to Pein, the unmoving rings of his eyes, the rodded piercings through his nose and mouth, his ears.

"I want to go home," she breathed, unable to help herself from leaning forward ever so slightly. She tried not to stutter over the explanation. The reality of living through it was a world away from trying to explain it to strangers who cared nothing for her, with whom she had no credibility. They listened wordlessly as she explained from the moment she had encountered the nin in the desert. The signs, the history of her own world. She withheld information about them, about their downfall, their deaths. That might be too much at this point.

"In my time, there was an Uchiha Madara capable of creating such a time-field." It was also probably not necessary to explain that she would not go near Madara with a hundred-foot pole. "It is my hope that Itachi-san can do the same and send me back to my world."

"Your consciousness," Konan clarified.

"Yes."

The leader looked between her and Naruto, his brow dipping thoughtfully. "Are you capable of successfully completing such a technique?" he asked, turning his attention to Itachi.

"I am not," he said readily, so easily that Sakura's eyes snapped to him, her face betraying her disappointment at once. He- This was not right. It did not even occur to her to try and hide her feelings, so surprised she was. This could not be right; things were working so far, so damned far. Itachi, was every bit as skilled as Madara. He had to be!

Her eyes were so focused on him that she did not see him shift, immediately. Not until Naruto drew back from the new figure did she see the swirled orange mask, single eye-hole in its right side. Her strength was failing, and she drew away from him, her good hand already in front of her, as she rolled to her feet. It was Uchiha Madara behind that mask, and his plans for the bijuu were very different from Nagato's. He would destroy the world and remake it in his own likeness, the Moon's Eye Plan.

Everything was wrong. Everything was falling apart. She had gambled and failed.

Naruto had moved with her instinctively, ready to fight, ready to flee as she was. Tears were already in her eyes. They wouldn't make it to the door before they were finished. No guards because they didn't need them.

Tobi took a single step forward, and she could see the sharingan through the hole in the mask, even at this distance. She closed her eyes too late.

"Be calm, Uchiha Sakura," he commanded, his voice firm and demanding. Not Tobi, then, the jester who pranced his way into Akatsuki ranks, but Madara himself stood behind the mask. She froze, then, willing to hear him out. What else could she do? Her analytical mind already knew the answers. To flee would ensure death, certainly. Waiting, listening, might be death, anyway, but…

_How much_ was different?

She released Naruto's hand, not even certain of when she had grabbed it in her panic, but the motion was certainly hers, his arm too relaxed.

Tobi lifted a hand and removed the mask. It was Uchiha Madara's full face that revealed to her as he held the mask at his side.

"We are not who you seem to think we are," he drawled, his voice gravelly and deep. She glanced at Itachi, who nodded, but the gesture only unsettled her further. Konan nodded as well when her eyes fell on the woman, as serene as she had ever appeared. Pein merely quirked an eyebrow down at her. Not a single one of them were surprised by what was a revelation to her. They… They all knew that Tobi was also Madara?

"What's going on?" she asked sharply, made bold in fear.

It was Itachi who cleared his throat and prepared an explanation, "Madara and I have a standing agreement with Akatsuki. In exchange for our help, they will liberate Konoha from Danzou's hands."

She jerked, physically spasmed as she heard. Her eyes widened with every syllable until they were uncomfortably dry and still she could not believe what she was seeing, could not trust what she was hearing.

"_Why_? Why would you _do_ such a thing?" she asked the crowd at large, unable to stop herself. 'Be bold,' her father had told her as a child.

Again it was Itachi who answered, this time with a question, "Do you have personal objections, or just objections to Akatsuki's involvement?"

"Neither," she answered automatically, still not present enough to be monitoring herself as she should. Naruto put a hand on her shoulder, and she was grateful for the motion, despite how it might be interpreted. She was not alone. Someone was still in her corner, anchoring her while the absorbed all of the differences here and now.

"Uchiha Sakura," Madara called, and she looked toward the smooth face of the ancient man. "I will take Itachi's role in your offer if it is in line with Leader's wishes." Pein nodded in the corner of Sakura's vision and Naruto gave her shoulder a solid squeeze.

"Begin making your necessary preparations," the leader commanded. "The rest of the agreement will stand."

And that was the end of it. Or maybe the beginning.

As quickly as that they were in agreement. She was going home. She was going home.

Perhaps the emotion of it would hit her later. For now she felt… empty.

Sakura and Naruto both nodded their compliance and almost made to leave the room before Madara stopped them. At the doorway she turned back. Both of the remaining Uchiha (what was Madara in relation to her?) were approaching, Madara in the lead of Itachi. Where had he been? How had he known to appear? Hadn't he been spying on them the whole time already?

"We will need to know as much about what happened as possible," he said.

"Now?" she squawked at them. Both men blinked at her. Surreal. Absolutely surreal.

"You'd prefer to wait?" Itachi asked as Madara closed his eyes.

It took several minutes to appease his curiosity about her encounter with the Rain nin, the techniques they had used, her counters, the condition of all bodies present. She could see the not-quite-surprise in Itachi's face that once more shifted their perception of her as she explained in detail the biological response of each of her attackers after she had repelled them.

Then came the explanation of the single-handed seal, which, she was sure, had brought about her position here. She tried to recreate it as best she could without chakra, but it was the last of the series of seals that interested Madara most. He nodded at her curled fingers, and she forgot how surreal the moment was long enough to feel relief. She was not crazy. This was not a dream.

It only took Uchiha Madara to make it known to her. She knew then the magnitude of his power, his ability. It was… just beyond her.

She was staring at him wide-eyed as he explained, "It's a transference technique, created for medical conditions when the patient is unable to be moved over long distances. In the past few decades it has been used mostly for kidnappings."

"You've documented each use of this technique, then?" she asked sarcastically.

He stared at her without humor, "A technique of this kind is not used casually, and it can be complicated by the proximity of other objects- summoning scrolls, sealing scrolls, things of that nature. You mentioned a box."

She nodded, "Hokage-sama had me delivering to the Kazekage. I never saw what was in the box, though." His black eyes held hers for a moment, long enough that she furrowed her brow at him when she became uncomfortable under his stare.

"A good soldier, then," he commented. She blinked again, but before she could respond to his compliment (maybe?) he pushed on. "I can do what you ask. However, if there is resistance it could kill you." For some reason, she was not surprised, not even nonplussed about the idea. Home, or death. Of course there would be another obstacle.

"What kind of resistance?" she asked wearily.

"Resistance from the Sakura who belongs to the body you inhabit," he answered. "From the other side."

Not something she had expected, but neither was it surprising.

She sighed, "It figures. This world has been hell. I wouldn't want to come back to it either."

"Hey, hey," Naruto interjected with a modicum of his usual enthusiasm. "It hasn't been _all _bad." She almost started at his chipper tone. Apparently, he was willing to trust the Akatsuki if they were willing to overthrow Danzou. Or at least he was making nice for the time being. He reminded her more than ever of her Naruto, bouncing back from trials and tribulations and all kinds of heartache. She hoped her would forgive her. _Her_, not the other Sakura, who had no part to play in what they were doing. Her. Someday, maybe he would.

"True," she agreed, smiling more easily than she thought she would be able given everything that had happened. He grinned at her. "You have been a particular bright spot on a dark horizon," she admitted, and his grin dimmed into a softer, more sincere smile, one that she returned readily.

"Ready?" Madara asked a moment later, interrupting the byplay.

"Now?" she asked, turning to look at him quickly. The kaleidoscope was spinning, a shuriken of black against a red sun that swallowed her world as it expanded into the entirety of her vision. She was falling, falling into the dark void of black, arms spreading wide to catch onto something with her two hands. Naruto called her name behind her, but she could not make herself flip over to see him, to comfort him. This was a one-way trip.

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><p>PSA - Non-reviewers are OK. Reviewers are all fantastic. <strong>My<strong> reviewers, though, leave the most thoughtful and wonderfully constructive reviews, and are therefore wonderfully wonderful. Thank you :)

Thank you cutecookiechick, qawashere, E d e n, Ichi-stars, SectumSemprae, XxLizzie-chanxX, JustALittleTwisted, Phishouttawatta, poket, mars, ChibiVampireQueen, Life'sNotPerfect, LadyMartel4000, anautumnlady, divine-chaos13, Gin-okami123, Nina Morenos, NeeNVirgo, Joy-girl, Nikki-4, sweeter-ion, yukishakura, XxSwingLifeAwayxX, and the rockstar SasuSakuKawaii, who reviewed every single chapter in one go.

At this point so many of you have commented on the Sasuke, meek!Sakura sleeping together, that I've almost changed my mind. Not that it happened, because that was my intention, but as a writer, I could have handled its delivery better. So thank you all who expressed concerns in a thoughtful, emotional manner :D You've given me something to work on as an author, and that is a very nice gift.


	12. Own

This and the epilogue, friends. Unedited, so please forgive spelling errors. I got tired of making you guys wait :)

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><p>The windows were dusty, as were the sills. The garden was spotty with weeds from neglect. There was no laundry because Sasuke had barely changed clothes since Sakura had been committed to the hospital.<p>

Sakura, his Sakura, had been gone for nearly two weeks. The woman in his wife's body was stabilized, the only reason he had left the hospital, but the Hokage had made it clear that they were fighting a losing battle. Her body was weakening and eventually the seizures would return. Then she would slip away from them for good.

He bowed over the sink, trying to bury his frustration in the countertop through his fingers. He could see the metal edge of the sink buckling under his strength, but the exercise did nothing to relieve his anxiety. Tsunade had no leads. She had never seen anything like this before and was calling in the Yamanakas for consultation on mind transference, but Sasuke had no hope for them. They were not a group known for their summoning, nor traveling great distances. How could they hope to solve a problem bridging worlds?

Sakura. Sakura was the one at stake here. He was going to lose her, he knew it. The last words they had spoken to one another had been passive aggressive, belittling things- so he remembered it, and she had been angry. And he had been angry. Now they would never see one another again. Like Itachi. Like his parents and clan. Everything that drew close to him eventually died. Just like with them, he would never be able to forgive himself for doing so little for her in her time of need. Would she meet the rest of his family after death? Would they all condemn him together for allowing their fates to pass him by?

He heard Kakashi's footsteps before his knock, quick and light things, and when the man appeared in the kitchen, fist against the doorframe, Sasuke was already facing him.

"She's awake," his mentor announced and once more the house was neglected.

Naruto and Ino were standing outside of her room when he arrived, talking in, for them, lower tones. Both looked up as he approached, wary smiles in their eyes. He felt his heart clench in a betraying hope as he bypassed them altogether for her door. Could she be OK? Did the Yamanakas come through, after all? Did Tsunade fill every hope and accolade his wife had ever heaped on her?

Kakashi paused as he opened the door and Sasuke entered by himself, coming face to face with Tsunade. She stepped aside, gesturing him toward the now-familiar bed in the corner. Sakura was lying there, pale and drawn but with slowly blinking eyes. There was recognition in them as he approached her, and he sighed as he dutifully occupied his seat once more. There was hesitation and fear in her eyes as she saw him, and he wondered if they would have to relive all of the drama and pain they had gone through once already with her shame and defensive posturing. He felt exhausted, unequal to the task before him, but smiled through it just the same.

The longer she silently stared at him, the more of his limited patience he drew. It was Sakura's time, and she needed him. He would not abandon her.

"How are you feeling?" he asked lowly, tucking his hands into his lap.

The blankets rustled as she shifted and answered carefully, words and eyes, "A little out of it."

He glanced back to Tsunade, who slowly smirked down at the body of her apprentice.

"It's completely normal to feel this way after seizures of this magnitude." Tsunade was still smirking, and Sasuke frowned, glancing back to Sakura as the words finished coming out of her mouth. The rhythm of her words, the intonation… "And traveling across dimensions. Or whatever the proper term for it is." His face felt uncomfortably tight, the frown stretching it to capacity as he glanced back at Tsunade again. The Hokage smiled at him in a rather matronly way. He did not need to engage the sharingan to see how bright her eyes were as she nodded.

His hands untucked from their restrained position and reached out to Sakura's fingers, finding them beneath the blanket. They clenched around his without their usual strength, but the expression in her eyes more than covered the intensity. His wife. His wife had returned.

"I'll give you some time," the Hokage stated as she grabbed the door handle again, "but you won't be able to hold off your teammates forever. Make the most of it." Then she was gone. Sasuke stared at Sakura, pulling her hand between his and holding it firmly. She was watching him with an expression as tight as the one he could feel on his face.

"I thought it was you, but with that expression…" He smiled lightly, but she shook her head. A heavy sigh followed and she disengaged her hand, drawing back. Her eyes turned to the window.

"It's all my fault," she said, using the words of the other-Sakura, but not the same subservient tone or manner. "I just let my feelings run away with me when you came back from your mission. Sasuke-kun, I'm sorry." She turned back to him, but her eyes would not meet his again. "If I had not exploded, we wouldn't be here- and everything that happened…"

He hesitated at her words, thoughts and feelings freezing in place with concern. The 'visiting' Sakura had let him know without a single word how awful her experience had been with him as a husband. Her defenses and servility had come from whatever dynamic existed between her and the… other him. Had his Sakura adopted the same mannerisms? In such a short time? He felt sick in his heart as he watched her. They had both been through a kind of hell that words could not dent, and he would not press her for the details.

"The other Sakura was here," he admitted, placing a hand on the guard rail of her bed. Near, but not pushing.

She sighed and nodded, staring up at the ceiling. "It wasn't a dream, then."

"More like a nightmare."

"I know. I was there."

So she was, he agreed silently. She still was not looking at him. He could not help wonder what she had seen, been through, even with the understanding that he would not push her to share it. How long had it taken for him to open up about Itachi after years of trial and frustration? He readily admitted that Sakura was the stronger of the two of them, emotionally, but her world had been literally turned upside down. How could she go through violence and abuse, physical and verbal, housed in a face she trusted and loved and ever be better? He was still broken in some ways, would always be.

She still would not look at him. How long would she push him away, he was already wondering. Hope was never his friend, and he would not try to hold it now.

He pulled his grip off of the bed, ready to give her copious amounts of space, when her hand snaked out and took his again. Her other joined it, sandwiching his fingers in an intense grip that was almost painful.

"That wasn't him," she said with a butterfly-faint voice. "That wasn't my husband." She tugged at his arm like a lifeline, pulling him over the bed rail. Sasuke accepted the invitation and climbed onto the mattress as Sakura slid closer to the window. "I'm adjusted," she sniffled, explaining her sudden hands-on approach. "So you'd better hold me if you know what's good for you."

He sighed against her crown, doing as she commanded. There was no mystery here. Touch had always calmed her, and he felt the tension in his chest melt away. That fear that had tried to draw him from the room, put space between them. It was a powerful thing to fight, but Sakura had given him reprieve again- had saved him again. She was the stronger of them, again.

The familiar lay and hold of her hands against his ribs, unstudied or practiced. They were her handholds, slipped from his ribs to his shoulders and then one to rest against his hip, as familiar as if seen with the sharingan.

"Things happened," Sakura spoke quietly. The words were firm, though quiet. He waited, waited for her to explain herself. "_I_ did things," she admitted. She was scared, even now.

Sensing an invitation, he asked gently, "What things?"

Her voice contorted against his chest and he felt more than heard the first of what would be many rounds of crying. She had not pulled away, though. She was opened up to him. Not many things she could have done would have caused such tears. Sakura had a way of justifying her actions beyond many ninja. Despite her tender heart, she could get the job done, more so if others were in danger.

It had to be about him, the other him. Given what he knew about his doppleganger, and there was no way to call the man evil knowing the decisions he had made in his own life, there was one glaring possibility.

"Did you kill him?" Sasuke asked lowly, his voice careful. She tensed, stilling beneath his arms. He in no way wanted Sakura to think he faulted her for what she had done. He could not stress his approval enough, seeing her state now, but he had to be careful how he broached the subject lest she feel even guiltier for doing what was necessary.

"I did," she whispered. Her body curled against his like a warm stone.

She was so vulnerable and open, and he would not hurt her further with doubt or uncertainty, "Good." He kissed the crown of her head, distanced from the mirror he had seen only indirectly. Echoes and ripples that even now were hurting the person he loved most in this world. "By all accounts it sounded like justice."

"I did more than that, too," she admitted, coolly comforted. He could feel it in her shoulders and spine that she was still wrenching her new secrets out. They did not come willingly.

"You did what you had to," he assured her, believing the words as he uttered them.

She took a deep breath, then slowly exhaled, digging her fingers into his hip.

Whatever she did more than kill the man threatening her life, he was not sure he wanted to know. Perhaps he _needed_ to know, but... It did not change how he felt about her decisions or the necessity. How could _he_ ever argue that a course of action was too much? Even if he believed it now, he had done so much in the past…

"Sakura." She remained still, listening intently. "I did horrible things when I was younger, and I know better than anyone how much punishment I deserved, but you forgave me. How can I expect your actions to warrant forgiveness at all when you were protecting yourself?" He pulled her a pinch closer and tried to grind the meaning of his next words into her conscience, "Whatever you had to do, I'm just glad to have you back."

She believed him. He realized it when she opened her mouth and began to speak of what had occurred during her time away. Despite Tsunade's warning, they were not interrupted, either by well-wishers or loud noises from the hall. It was just as well, because the only thing he wanted was to hold his wife.

"The other me," she said, "was pregnant. There was a baby, Sasuke-kun, and it was ours."

He had not been ready for that revelation. A baby, a child, someone to restore the clan. Had the clan even been in the same state there? Would they have known how absolutely precious a child would have been? He wanted to ask whether she had aborted the child or not, but the words would not come. There was no way they could ever pass his mouth. He did not know what the world would be like if he spoke them. He was glad he waited.

"I found Itachi. I made a deal with him to take the baby so I could come home. I was just betting on him being the brother you remembered, the brother you explained to me," she babbled. She was trying to prove herself to him, even now, her words and emotions proving that she still held him above her own. How much was she hurting, having to give away a child?

But she was right about Itachi, if he was the man Sasuke had known. If things were the same. Sakura had said she had sought him out. Did that mean the clan had been slaughtered after all? Did that mean that Itachi was still as noble as he had been as a child, more so for holding his secrets into adulthood?

A child. They had had a child.

Sakura began to weep in earnest, muttering, "Please say something… Oh, our sweet baby boy."

"Was the- was he sick?" Sasuke asked carefully, trying not to choke over his own words. A son.

"No," she moaned, shaking her head slowly and gulping air. "No, he was perfectly healthy as far as I could tell, but Itachi…"

"He'll take care of the baby," Sasuke interjected, trying to believe it himself. This was different from hearing his double had been killed, necessarily killed. He tried to think that the baby was not his, but the product of two different people so far away that he would never know them. But Sakura had known it, and Sakura wept as if she had lost her own child. That made it real enough. "The boy will be fine. Itachi will uphold his end of the bargain, and the child will be well-protected," Sasuke calmly promised.

She sagged next to him, and for a long while they were both silent, caught up in the what-ifs and possibilities that had been raised before them. In the basics of that other place, they had had exactly the life they planned for here- marriage, the beginnings of a family. But the characteristics of that relationship had been twisted and ugly things. Did he really have it in him to hurt her the way she had been hurt? Would she ever tell him all of the details of what had happened there?

"I just…" she whispered. "I thought I wanted you to be something- someone else," she admitted lowly. "But I just wanted you, Sasuke-kun. All I ever wanted was you, but…"

He waited, pulling away just enough to look down to her hooded eyes. She closed them altogether, gripping a fistful of pants material. "I just hope the other Sakura, and Naruto, can make it…"

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><p>Thank you to everyone who reviews! They are the most motivating things ever.<p> 


	13. Epilogue

THIS IS THE EPILOGUE. It was posted at the same time as the previous chapter! Please doublecheck with the previous chapter and make sure that you are not spoiling yourself by not reading the previous chapter!

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><p>She scrubbed the plain soap against the planes of her cheek, along her jawline in the mirror. It was an efficient, utilitarian process, rinsed in cold water that threatened to seize up her muscles.<p>

When she finished, she pulled her fairy floss pink hair out of its tie and tousled some of the roots experimentally. The ends brushed her shoulders daintily, having grown nicely since the last time it had been cut. There was only so much that could be done without visiting a profession salon, and that had not happened in quite some time.

"Thinking about cutting it again?" Konan asked from the doorway. Sakura smiled at her and took a few steps forward. She shook her head as she joined the woman in the hallway.

"No, I think I'd like it to be long for a while." They walked together easily over the darkly stained wood. "Long is more my style."

"Nothing wrong with short, though," her friend teased dryly. Sakura grinned, having taken several months to grow used to her easy, dispassionate tone.

"You have a nice cut, but I'm ready for something long."

"Hmm, suit yourself."

They came to a stop at an outer pagoda of the smallish grounds, smaller than Sakura had been expecting anyway. She had known very little of Akatsuki before she had woken with Naruto and several unknown figures standing over her. It was an open structure with a tented roof and no walls.

Naruto was standing there, facing out into the yard as they approached. He extended a hand back to her as she stepped beside him, and she slipped hers into his fingers.

The trio's eyes glanced back into the yard where Itachi was standing with a small, dark-haired child. The pair was moving through a kata, focusing on balance as they shifted from foot to hand to foot. Itachi made no corrections, and Sakura watched the boy make the motions effortlessly despite his young age.

"How many times has he gone through it now?" she asked proudly.

"This is only the second," Naruto answered, and she smiled. "Looks like he's following in his dad's footsteps." She nodded.

"He'll need a haircut soon," she muttered absently, still watching his graceful motions.

The pair finished the kata. She watched the child bow to Itachi who tweaked his forehead with the smallest of smiles. The boy fell back comically, and she grinned, tucking a hand over her mouth. It was then that Itachi finally used a sterner tone, and his pupil responded immediately by rolling backwards and into his feet.

They approached the pagoda at an easy pace, the boy keeping up with Itachi's longer stride.

"Say 'good morning,'" Itachi commanded gently as they stood before the trio.

"Good morning, Konan-sensei, Naruto-san, Sakura-san." They each nodded in turn before Itachi and the boy moved back towards the inner compound.

"Ready for the meeting?" Konan asked.

"Ready," Sakura agreed, and together the three walked back inside.

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><p>THE END.<p>

Thank you to everyone who has read this story, enjoyed it, cried over it, hated it at times, and taken the time to share all of your feelings about the story with me. Truly, this is the first time I've ever finished a story of this length and it would not have happened without your time and effort, too.

I'll be putting some notes in my LJ about the story in the next few hours, so if you're interested in more of an explanation or you have further questions, feel free to send me a message.

Please leave a review, too, of course :)

THANK YOU ALL!


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